Health

Blood clotting level is determined by smartphone app


That’s why millions of Americans take blood-thinning medications, such as warfarin, which make it harder for the blood to clot.

However, patients need to be checked regularly to make sure their blood volume is in the correct range, if the blood clots too easily it can still lead to stroke or heart attack while the blood does not clot which can lead to a stroke or heart attack. to prolonged bleeding after trauma.

To be tested, patients must go to a clinical laboratory or use an expensive home testing system. The newly developed coagulation test overcomes these difficulties.

Using a new test method, a person places a drop of blood in a cup, which contains a tiny copper particle and a chemical that initiates the clotting process.

The phone’s vibration motor then shakes the cup while the camera tracks the particle’s movement, which slows down and then stops as a clot forms.

The researchers show that the method is within the accuracy range of standard field instruments. These findings are published in Nature Communications.

“In the past, doctors used to kick blood tubes back and forth with their hands to monitor the time it took for a clot to form. However, this requires a lot of blood so it can’t be used in a home environment,” said the person. said the elderly. by Shyam Gollakota, UW professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Engineering & Computer Science.

Doctors can rate blood clotting by two numbers: the time it takes for the clot to form, known as “prothrombin time,” or PT.

A ratio calculated from the PT that allows the doctor to easily compare results between different tests or laboratories is known as the “internationally normalized ratio” or INR.

Patients who can monitor their PT/INR levels from home will only need to see a clinician if testing shows they are outside of that desired range.

To calculate PT and INR, the phone collects stamps at two times: first when the user puts in blood and second when the particle stops moving.

The researchers tested the method on three different types of blood samples. As a proof of concept, the team started with plasma, a component of blood that is transparent and therefore easier to test.

They tested plasma from 140 anonymous patients at the University of Washington Medical Center. The team also examined plasma from 79 patients with known clotting problems. For both of these conditions, the test had similar results to the commercially available tests.

This device is still in beta. The researchers have publicly released the code and are exploring opportunities for commercialization and further testing.

The next step is to work with patients to test the system at home. The researchers also wanted to see how the system performed in more resource-constrained regions and countries.

Source: Medindia



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