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MicroVisk's current prototype requires blood to be applied using a pipette. But the company is about to engineer a device that captures and analyzes a sample in one go, similar to a glucose-testing kit. The company was recently granted a European patent and secured $1.7 million in funding, and its aim, says Curtis, is to come to market within three years.
Given that similar approaches have been used to measure viscosity at a macroscopic level, the approach should work well at a microscopic level too, says Todd Przybycien, head of biochemical and chemical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh. He adds that measuring viscosity, rather than trying to detect specific particulates in blood, is a more manageable task.
In March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) extended its health-insurance policy to allow Warfarin patients in the United States to be covered for more-frequent testing at home. "The market for testing patients on Warfarin is huge, with a global value at over $2.25 billion," Curtis says. "This is going to end up much like the glucose-testing market."
"By limiting doctor visits, MicroVisk will make life much more manageable for people taking Warfarin," says Phil Cooper, director of the Sensors and Instrumentation Knowledge Transfer Network, an academic and industry group based at the National Physical Laboratory, in Oxfordshire, U.K., which supported MicroVisk in its early stages.
Other devices that perform a similar job are becoming available but are less accurate, Curtis says, because they measure coagulation through indirect biochemical changes--for example, by applying a current to the blood and measuring impedance. The other advantage of using a MEMS sensor is that it requires less blood. "We require about one microliter of blood, as opposed to between 10 and 15 microliters," Curtis adds. This means that each blood test requires a smaller pinprick. "You're going to cut through a lot less nerve endings, so it hurts less," he says.
Guest (natalie219)
My hematologist has Warfarin/Coumadin blood test results in minutes, not weeks. In weeks, Warfarin/Coumadin-takers can become clotters and bleeders. Doctors and labs that permit weeks, or even days, to pass before obtaining results and adjusting Warfarin/Coumadin doses accordingly, are mistreating their patients.
Are there any new cheaper devices available yet? If so where are they available?
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mfolbe
49 Comments
time for test
We get the results of our blood samples in a few hours. Some doctors have rapid analyzers right in their office. They get the results in a few min. Never do we wait weeks for results.
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johnscurtis
1 Comment
Re: time for test
There are only two instruments on the market that allow doctors to test in the office but these use 10 - 15 microlitres of blood and, as the article says test the biochemistry of the blood and do not have a user friendly Home Test unit. Microvisk's technology means that only one microlitre of blood is needed which is much lower pain and actually test the changing viscosity of the blood as it coagulates which is proving to be more accurate. Having both a POC and a Home Test unit means that the instrument can be tailored to fit the differing needs of each market
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