First Paper 'Dipstick' Test for Determining Blood Type
Science Daily
2010-06-04
Scientists
are reporting development of the first "dipstick" test for instantly
determining a person's blood type at a cost of just a few pennies.
Their study on the test, which involves placing a drop of blood on a
specially treated paper strip, appears in ACS' journal Analytical
Chemistry, where the authors say it could be a boon to health care in
developing countries. The test also could be useful in veterinary
medicine, for typing animals' blood in the field, they note.
Gil Garnier and colleagues explain that determining a patient's blood
type is critical for successful blood transfusions, which save millions
of lives each year worldwide. There are four main blood types: A, B,
AB, and O. Use of the wrong blood type in a patient can be fatal.
Current methods for determining blood type require the use of
sophisticated instruments that are not available in many poor parts of
the world. An inexpensive portable test could solve that problem.
The scientists describe development of prototype paper test strips
impregnated with antibodies to the antigens on red blood cells that
determine blood type. In lab tests using blood samples from human
volunteers, the scientists showed that a drop of blood placed on the
strip caused a color change that indicated blood type. The results were
as accurate as conventional blood typing. "The paper diagnostics
manufacturing cost is a few pennies per test and can promote health in
developing countries," the report notes.
Science Daily
2010-06-04
Scientists
are reporting development of the first "dipstick" test for instantly
determining a person's blood type at a cost of just a few pennies.
Their study on the test, which involves placing a drop of blood on a
specially treated paper strip, appears in ACS' journal Analytical
Chemistry, where the authors say it could be a boon to health care in
developing countries. The test also could be useful in veterinary
medicine, for typing animals' blood in the field, they note.
Gil Garnier and colleagues explain that determining a patient's blood
type is critical for successful blood transfusions, which save millions
of lives each year worldwide. There are four main blood types: A, B,
AB, and O. Use of the wrong blood type in a patient can be fatal.
Current methods for determining blood type require the use of
sophisticated instruments that are not available in many poor parts of
the world. An inexpensive portable test could solve that problem.
The scientists describe development of prototype paper test strips
impregnated with antibodies to the antigens on red blood cells that
determine blood type. In lab tests using blood samples from human
volunteers, the scientists showed that a drop of blood placed on the
strip caused a color change that indicated blood type. The results were
as accurate as conventional blood typing. "The paper diagnostics
manufacturing cost is a few pennies per test and can promote health in
developing countries," the report notes.
