Approach is used to measure low platelets, a side-effect of vaccine and medications
Bedford, MA, August 30, 2021. rHEALTH today announced that, in partnership with a global pharma company, it has developed and demonstrated a highly accurate, fingerstick-based approach to measuring thrombocytopenia, or low platelet counts. The approach, as published in PloS ONE, a peer-reviewed open access journal published by the Public Library of Science, is titled, “Point-of-care microvolume cytometer measures platelet counts with high accuracy from capillary blood.” The details of the work and authorship are here.
Thrombocytopenia is a side-effect of adenovirus-based vaccines, chemotherapy drugs, and characteristic of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Accurate measurements of low platelets, below 75,000 platelets/uL, are required to diagnose thrombocytopenia. For gold-standard measurements, large central lab equipment and venous blood draws performed by phlebotomists are required. Conventional approaches are thus not suitable for widespread screening of individuals at-risk of thrombocytopenia. Ideally, as described in the work, the approach utilizes a fingerstick blood sample, obtained with a lancet, which can be performed at home and other non-hospital settings. The measurements should be performed on a small, portable device, such as the rHEALTH ONE used for the study.
“The rHEALTH technology shows that thrombocytopenia can be diagnosed accurately with our minimally invasive, point-of-care approach. It has the potential to provide optimal patient care for those at risk of thrombocytopenia,” said Eugene Chan MD, CEO of rHEALTH.
The study showed that the rHEALTH method can successfully measure 8 μL of sample, derived from fingerstick capillary blood collected and tested by trained laboratory professionals, to achieve platelet counts comparable to the gold-standard International Society for Laboratory Hematology method. Very strong correlation between the two methods was observed for low and normal platelet counts. An important step towards the development of the point-of-care assay is for at-home use.
About rHEALTH
rHEALTH is a company focused on the development and commercialization of its Your Health, AnywhereTM technology. The rHEALTH blood sensor is the subject of multiple XPRIZE awards, a NASA effort for astronaut health monitoring, and over a dozen issued patents. The work for the study was funded by the global pharma company described here and the National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award R44 HL099092. For more information, visit www.rhealth.com.