Hey readers!
I'll start with the progress I've made this week. Last week, I forgot to explain why anyone should care about blood analysis and specifically advances in the microliter type. Although I had an idea from previous papers, presentations, and discussions, I delved into the importance of (microliter) blood analysis. Overall, blood testing is crucial for diagnostic medicine, or diagnosing diseases. However, current blood testing requires approximately 7 mL of blood to ensure accurate results.
Microliter blood analysis has many benefits. The primary benefit is the reduced volume required for potentially the same information about patients. Especially for critically ill, very old or very young patients, anemia from undergoing blood tests while in the hospital, aptly named hospital-acquired anemia (HAA), is widespread. HAA affects a MAJORITY of critically ill patients and often causes their conditions to deteriorate, simply from doctors trying to find out what is wrong and monitor their conditions. Additionally, sick patients often already have low hemoglobin (a protein in the blood that carries oxygen) levels, leaving them even more susceptible to anemia.
Even more, the current goals of the biomedical industry are miniaturization and improving quality of patient care. Using a drop of blood acquired from a small prick rather than using an IV or syringe to draw 1000x more blood clearly will improve patient care quality. By minimizing the risks and hassle of tests, potentially more information will also be available for patients and doctors.
The topic of miniaturizing blood volumes for tests is also extremely relevant currently because of the recent Theranos controversy (January 2016). The inappropriate practices of the microliter blood testing company along with the failures of its technology were exposed. Theranos laboratories were diluting microliter samples and providing results over the accepted 10% error threshold. Theranos sold the ideal of personalized and more informed medical care, but without the technology behind it. What had been called a revolutionary technology now is seemingly a fraud (strikingly similar to the "Great Beyond").
What a week it's been! I've made a lot of interesting discoveries for my research project, and I guess my life -- seeing Seth Rogen's "Sausage Party" (incidentally the theme for this week's post).
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| My facial expression after seeing "Sausage Party" |
In case you forgot or are joining the party late, my area of inquiry for my project is HemaDrop™, my research group's patented technique for applying blood to a substrate to create a uniform, solid, and thin film analyzable for blood tests, forensics, and other applications. Simply put, the substrate becomes super-hydrophilic (likes water) and sucks up the moisture from the blood, so that it dries in a film.
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| If you've seen Dr. House in action, you'll understand what I mean. |
Even more, the current goals of the biomedical industry are miniaturization and improving quality of patient care. Using a drop of blood acquired from a small prick rather than using an IV or syringe to draw 1000x more blood clearly will improve patient care quality. By minimizing the risks and hassle of tests, potentially more information will also be available for patients and doctors.
The topic of miniaturizing blood volumes for tests is also extremely relevant currently because of the recent Theranos controversy (January 2016). The inappropriate practices of the microliter blood testing company along with the failures of its technology were exposed. Theranos laboratories were diluting microliter samples and providing results over the accepted 10% error threshold. Theranos sold the ideal of personalized and more informed medical care, but without the technology behind it. What had been called a revolutionary technology now is seemingly a fraud (strikingly similar to the "Great Beyond").
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| Apparently not. |
HemaDrop is unique compared to these technologies, as we are using a solid film for analysis as opposed to the traditional blood vial of liquid (pictured above). Using a solid provides many benefits, including more flexibility in analysis techniques and quantitative data not affected by dilution and color of the sample. Thus, my research topic will concern microliter blood analysis and biological applications of super-hydrophilic films -- specifically understanding the properties of HemaDrop even more and optimizing the technology.
My next step is to begin compiling sources and learning about the project. I got a head-start by going to the dark aisle and talking to FireWater about the truth. Actually, when I was working at the lab this Friday, I stopped by the Noble Science Library and picked up two books: one on blood diagnostics (Senses, Sensors, and Systems: A journey through the history of laboratory diagnosis) and another on nanoparticle (Nanoparticle Technology Handbook). Apart from this, I have also received from Dr. Herbots two senior theses of ASU students who worked with other biological applications of super-hydrophilic films. My plan for this week is to read through these to get some background information on clotting mechanisms in the blood, the history of blood diagnostics, and the workings of super-hydrophilic films.
I'll leave you with this image that I took on Friday. It is a picture of two microscope slides -- the one on top treated with a super-hydrophilic film and the one on the bottom untreated. Can you identify the key difference? The answer reaffirms the power of HemaDrop and will be revealed next week!
Cheers,
Yash
(725)
My next step is to begin compiling sources and learning about the project. I got a head-start by going to the dark aisle and talking to FireWater about the truth. Actually, when I was working at the lab this Friday, I stopped by the Noble Science Library and picked up two books: one on blood diagnostics (Senses, Sensors, and Systems: A journey through the history of laboratory diagnosis) and another on nanoparticle (Nanoparticle Technology Handbook). Apart from this, I have also received from Dr. Herbots two senior theses of ASU students who worked with other biological applications of super-hydrophilic films. My plan for this week is to read through these to get some background information on clotting mechanisms in the blood, the history of blood diagnostics, and the workings of super-hydrophilic films.
I'll leave you with this image that I took on Friday. It is a picture of two microscope slides -- the one on top treated with a super-hydrophilic film and the one on the bottom untreated. Can you identify the key difference? The answer reaffirms the power of HemaDrop and will be revealed next week!
Cheers,
Yash
(725)
Yash, thank you for this informative post! I really appreciate the context that shows the real-world applications of HemaDrop and thus the importance and significance of the technology overall. I recall last year when I had to get some blood work done: they took around four vials of blood and I fainted in the doctor's office. Not only was it embarrassing, but I also had to return to work (as that was the week of the AP Research presentations last year). The amount of blood they took significantly weakened me, so I see how HemaDrop could've helped me there.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, it sounds like you have a lot of support. I ask you to consider what role you envision for your main support, Dr. Herbots. How will you make use of her expertise and knowledge while still coming up with your own original research? Just something to think about, so you can maximize your time with her.
Yash, the humor in this blog is literally amazing. I think the real-world significance that you mentioned is definitely spot on. Another thing to think about, as you mentioned briefly, is that forensic analysis may become far more accurate if all analysts need are a few microliters thanks to HemaDrop. This has far reaching implications and may be an avenue that you can briefly look down.
ReplyDeleteSince you seem to be focusing on the benefit that HemaDrop can provide to hospitals, I think it is really important for you to test the effectiveness of identifying different diseases and conditions after applying the HemaDrop procedure. That could make your research more credible and impactful.
As a last note, I'll leave you with a few questions pertaining to HemaDrop: What hospital procedures that deal with blood could possibly interfere with the HemaDrop procedure? Could anything be changed to the procedure or to Hemadrop to make them more compatible? I hope that didn't sound too naiive. Hopefully, those questions made sense.
Akash
(169)
DeleteI LOVE THOSE QUESTIONS, AKASH!
DeleteYash!! I loved your post (even though I hated and was IRREPARABLY MENTALLY BROKEN by Sausage Party). It seems evident that you see a lot of potential and usefulness in HemaDrop which means that this subject does seem to really be able to maintain your interest throughout the year which is awesome! You made the importance of the topic really evident and I am left with the impression that HemaDrop is a pretty rocking thing which is a good sign for your literature review in proving the significance.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I would consider in your planning to write your literature review is maybe first going a little deeper into the inadequacies of normal blood testing (which you do in this post, but I think it's pretty important so I'm just going to emphasize it) because that way it answers WHY HemaDrop is needed (because if normal blood testing is totally fine then why should we care about HemaDrop you feel).
Also, I would consider starting to think about looking at a range of things that blood analysis would be trying to pick up and to kind of choose the most important ones that HemaDrop should be able to do and maybe start looking into literature about those too? To kind of incorporate in so you can talk about the results of HemaDrop a little too.
But overall you seem to have a really good grasp on what you want to do and your plan for everything so you're doing an awesome job! Keep on killing it dude! (Just no more sausage party references please I'm having flashbacks and that's a great beyond no one wants to revisit am i right?)
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Going off of Daphne's comment, are there any tests that would still require a large amount of blood? In other words, are there tests where HemaDrop could not be used, even if it's perfected?
Delete