Abstract

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If you want context or more information, check out the working version of my abstract below!

Abstract:

Blood tests are the most common medical activity. However, current blood analysis techniques necessitate large volumes of liquid blood, which is problematic because it reduces hemoglobin levels in patients, causing fatigue and fainting in normal patients and hospital-acquired anemia in critically ill patients. While liquid, small-volume analysis has not achieved satisfactory accuracy for implementation, solid blood analysis provides an alternative method for reducing blood volumes.

However, concerns about accuracy also plague solid blood analysis. Specifically, blood can dry non-uniformly, increasing error for solid analysis. Moreover, since blood dries on a substrate, questions about increased drying time and cost exist. Specifically, this study optimizes HemaDrop™, a proprietary analysis technique that solidifies blood drops into thin films on hyper-hydrophilic surfaces. Thus, this research aims to optimize test accuracy, drying time, and cost of samples prepared via HemaDrop™ by manipulating the surface’s hyper-hydrophilicity.

This experiment manipulated surface hydrophilicity to determine to find the optimal substrate-coating combination. After two of each combination were prepared, 3 Liquid Contact Angle Analysis characterized one of each pair to quantitatively characterize hydrophilicity. Next, blood was applied to each sample’s counterpart, while qualitative observations coded for markers of disuniformity. Finally, Ion Beam Analysis was performed on two spots of each sample to compare elemental composition and thus measure uniformity.

Optimizing HemaDrop™ creates a cost-efficient and accurate method for small-volume blood analysis. Improving the efficiency of blood testing by fundamentally changing the approach to blood analysis, has the potential to revolutionize patient care.

Keywords:  microliter blood analysis, hyper-hydrophilic films, HemaDrop™