Medical Laboratory Technicians (MLT) perform laboratory analyses to help the physician detect, diagnose and treat disease. Technicians work with sophisticated laboratory instruments and computers that must be kept in optimal operating condition to give the most accurate results. The volume and sophistication of laboratory testing will increase as the population grows and lives longer. Physicians base about 70 percent of their diagnosis and treatment decisions on the results of laboratory testing. Medical laboratory technicians work under the supervision of the medical laboratory scientist and the medical director of the laboratory in such departments of the medical laboratory as the blood bank, clinical chemistry, microbiology, hematology, serology and body fluid analysis.