Rapid testing of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in intensive care patients using the HemoScreen™ point-of-care analyzer

Abstract

Acute major bleeding is a condition that can be encountered in critically ill patients and may require rapid transfusions. To evaluate the need for packed red blood cells (RBCs) and platelets (PLTs), it is important to have rapid test results for RBC/hemoglobin and PLTs. Recently, PixCell Medical (Yokneam Ilit, Israel) introduced the HemoScreen™, an automated hematology analyzer. It is a point-of-care device that uses single sample cuvettes and image analysis of RBCs, PLTs and white blood cells (WBCs), performing a five-part differential count. The HemoScreen™ is the first portable differential count instrument that uses image analysis. We compared the RBC, PLT, and WBC test results of the HemoScreen™ with the Sysmex XN device. In the study we analyzed 104 samples from the cardiothoracic, neuro and general intensive care units. The HemoScreen™ technique showed good precision, with total coefficient of variation of 1-2% for RBCs and 3-5% for PLTs. Deming correlations between the HemoScreen and the Sysmex XN instrument analyzer: (WBC_{HemoScreen™} = 1.061* WBC_Sysmex - 0.644; r = 0.995), RBC (RBC_{HemoScreen™} = 0.998* RBC_Sysmex + 0.049; r = 0.993) for WBC and (Platelets_{HemoScreen™} = 1.087* Platelets_Sysmex - 14.80; r = 0.994) for PLT. The HemoScreen™ device provided rapid and accurate test results to evaluate the need for RBC and PLT transfusion. This new technology is promising given that it allows the analysis of WBCs, RBCs, and PLTs further out in the healthcare organization compared with laboratory infrastructure based on traditional cell counters.

Keywords: Intensive care; method evaluation; platelets; point-of-care testing; red blood cells.