Of drills and bones: Giovanni Ghedini and the origin of bone marrow biopsy

Abstract

Bone marrow (BM) studies are pivotal for the diagnosis of haematological disorders. Their introduction into clinical haematology dates back to the work of GiovanniGhedini , an Italian physician who first conceived BM sampling in 1908.Ghedini's proposal stemmed from his clinical experience and from the scientific developments that characterised his epoch. By presenting selected passages of Ghedini's publications, this report considers the theoretical and historical bases of his work and analyses its practical implications for modern haematology.

From gating to computational flow cytometry: Exploiting artificial intelligence for MRD diagnostics

“…5 In this clinical setting, the CFC method here reported can provide an impressive tool to perform consistent immunophenotypic identification, accurate quantification and insightful sub-classification of rare CLL clones, with potential benefit for the patients. 1 From a methodological point of view, multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC) has essentially been nearer to 'oldfashioned cytomorphology', 6 rather than to molecular and genomic techniques, mainly because both classic microscopy and flow cytometry typically depend on individual operator's expert analysis of some discrete information (either optical or digital, respectively), about phenotypic features of normal and pathological cells. However, in the last years, advanced AI-based systems -coming from the research to routine clinical applications -have started to change this notion, by providing an unprecedented opportunity to automatically elaborate large amounts of multidimensional immunophenotypic data, acquired by last-generation highthroughput (≥8-colour) flow instruments (now commonly available for haematological diagnostics).…”