SAN DIEGO – Using less than a drop of blood, a portable microsensor provided a comprehensive coagulation profile in minutes and perfectly distinguished various coagulopathies from normal blood samples – handily beating both activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and prothrombin time (PT).
Dubbed ClotChip, the disposable device detects coagulation factors and platelet activity by using a technique called dielectric spectroscopy, Evi X. Stavrou, MD, of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, said in a video interview at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology. It points the way for comprehensive, rapid, point-of-care assessment of critically ill or severely injured patients and those who need ongoing monitoring to evaluate response to anticoagulant therapy, she added.
By plotting rates of true positives (patients with coagulopathies) against rates of true negatives (controls), the researchers obtained areas under the receiver operating curves of 100% for ClotChip, 78% for aPTT, and 57% for PT. In other words, ClotChip correctly identified all cases and controls in this small patient cohort, which neither aPTT or PT did.
Dr. Stavrou and her coinvestigators had no relevant financial disclosures.