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As a research specialist at Quest Diagnostics, George Woodrow III develops real-time process-control systems to modernize the traditional quality control practices used by the clinical laboratory. He uses Mathematica to develop effective algorithms and explore the true performance of the systems, as well as to help explain to his colleagues how the algorithms work. Woodrow says, "This gives them a way of understanding what's going on in terms that they understand without having to understand all of the details, and this is a critical breakthrough."

Woodrow says Mathematica has been key in greatly minimizing the laboratory's error rate. "Our error rate, in terms of sending incorrect results to our clients, has decreased by four orders of magnitude. So we used to have 10 to 15 errors a day in our laboratory. Now, it's 2 or 3 every year, and that's a big advantage."

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Modern Quality Control: Measuring True Performance with Mathematica

Physician Tim Shine is finding success with Mathematica even though he doesn't have a programming or mathematical background. He says about the software, "It had enough ease of use that I could get started with it. It's very fulfilling to come to this environment and bring your questions because it broadens your insight into what really is in your data."

Shine used Mathematica to define and manipulate parameters to create a good fit for complex physiological data about the blood pressure curve. "Using the Manipulate command, I can adjust the curve to fit theoretical situations and try many different experiments quickly," says Shine. "It just adds precision and accuracy to what we're doing." Shine hopes his model will lead to an elasticity index, which he says could improve blood pressure treatment and management in the general public.

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