The word "laboratory" often conjures images of scientists, experiments and bubbling liquids in glass beakers. Since many people have never been in a real laboratory, it is hard to imagine what else they might look like. Here, you can take a virtual visit to the Laboratory at Children's Hospital to find out what it is like in a "real lab."

Although the Laboratory's services are mostly behind the scenes, it is an extremely busy and important department at Children's Hospital. The testing conducted there is essential for finding out what is making a patient sick. Test results assist physicians in making diagnoses and determining appropriate treatment plans.

The first step to helping patients feel better is finding out what is making them feel bad. Many illnesses and medical problems can be detected in a person's blood, so the Lab is the place where blood samples can be tested. Many different tests are conducted in the Lab, including microbiology, virology, hematology, chemistry, urinalysis, serology and transfusion services.

When patients have blood drawn, it will often be from the arm, although small amounts may be drawn from the finger or heel (in the case of infants). For blood drawn from the arm, a lab employee will place a band around the arm to help find a vein located in the bend of the elbow. The lab staff member will then clean the skin on top of the vein with a disinfectant and insert a needle. The needle pinches a little, but just for a second. The blood from the vein goes through the needle and into a tube. When enough blood has been drawn, the lab person will remove the needle and place gauze and a bandage in its place. The tube is then labeled with the patient's information and identifies which blood test is required, and the blood sample is sent to the Lab.

Once the blood is sent to the Lab, it is put into other labeled test tubes and examined in a machine for a particular test. When the test is complete, the results are sent back to the doctor, who then can decide what medicine, treatment or further testing is required.

Taking blood samples is just one part of what the lab does. Another very important part is transfusion services. A blood transfusion is what happens when a healthy volunteer donates some of his or her blood to be given to another person. Blood transfusions are often needed to save the lives of people who have serious, life-threatening injuries. Sometimes people who have had surgery or some other medical treatments or children with certain types of diseases (such as cancers) also need transfusions. If a person needs a blood transfusion, a small amount of his or her own blood is first tested to identify its type and then matched with donated blood in the blood bank.

After the blood type has been matched in the blood bank laboratory, a plastic bag holding about a pint of donated blood is brought to the patient's room. The nurse will hang the bag on a pole next to the hospital bed. The nurse will then attach a plastic tube from the bag to the IV in the patient's arm and begin the transfusion. In emergencies, transfusions are given very quickly, so the person's life can be saved. Most of the time, transfusions are given more slowly and take more time to complete. When the transfusion is over, the nurse will remove the IV and cover the spot with a bandage.

Medic Regional Blood Center in Knoxville collects, tests and stores blood, which healthy people donate. Medic then supplies donated blood to Children's Hospital, where it is stored until needed.

The Laboratory processes 300,000 tests each year, and almost every patient who enters the hospital will require one or more laboratory tests.

The tests performed are for both inpatients and outpatients. When any hospital department requires lab work for a patient, a lab staff member will come to the particular area, draw the sample and return to the Lab, where the blood will be tested. When the test is complete, the results are sent back to the department through the hospital's computer information system.

The Emergency Department, Surgery and Critical Care Units rely heavily on the Lab, because results from blood tests and samples are needed quickly. The Second and Third Floors have patients staying for extended periods of time who may require the services of the Lab at any time of the day or night. The Lab is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and does most of its own testing, so it is always ready to help any patient.

Outpatient services may require patients to come to the hospital specifically for Lab work. But unlike inpatients, outpatients go home after testing. Outpatient lab services are useful in preparing for scheduled surgery, diagnosing some medical conditions, tracking a patient's progress and making sure everything for our patients is normal.