Pocket-sized device cuts blood-clot testing time from hours to minutes
Researchers have developed a disposable microfluidic chip that measures anticoagulant levels at the patient's bedside rather than in a central lab. The breakthrough could accelerate treatment decisions for the millions taking blood thinners and reduce the $5 billion annual burden of repeat lab visits.
Originaltitel: A fully integrated microfluidic device for point of care monitoring of antithrombotics
<p>The simplicity and efficiency of point of care diagnostics have revolutionised patient care. Current methods for measuring hypercoagulability often require trained technicians, large blood volumes, and result in long turnaround times. Standard testing for hypercoagulable disorders is performed in the central laboratory using automated coagulation analysers. However the trend is moving towards the development and implementation of point of care testing, as a result of the ever increasing number of patients on antithrombotic therapy. We present a novel microfluidic device and assay for monitoring the effect of two anticoagulants, unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). The assay is based on the anti-Xa assay principle but uses fluorescence detection. Our device is a disposable laminate microfluidic strip, fabricated from the cyclic polyolefin (COP), Zeonor (R), which is extremely suitable for application to fluorescent device platforms. We present data on the execution of the anti-Xa assay in this microfluidic format, demonstrating that the assay can be used to measure both UFH and LMWH in human plasma samples from 0 to 1 U mL(-1), with a rapid result obtained within 30-60 seconds.</p>