Futurehead.com

Good news if you hate being jabbed with needles and then waiting around for the test results — which is everybody. Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) researchers have developed a device that provides high-resolution images of red and white blood cells in vivo and does an instant diagnosis — simply by shining a light on the skin.

By eliminating the long wait time for blood test results, the new microscope might help spotlight warning signs, like high white blood cell count, before a patient develops severe medical problems.  The portability of the device could also enable doctors in rural areas without easy access to medical labs to screen large populations for common blood disorders.

As a test, the researchers imaged the blood flowing through a vessel in the lower lip of a volunteer. They successfully measured the average diameter of the red and white blood cells and also calculated the percent volume of the different cell types, a key measurement for many medical diagnoses.

Read full article