April 24, 2019
UW researchers discover new method to assess platelet health
Emergency room physicians often have only a few minutes to determine which patients are in need of a blood transfusion.
However, these physicians currently have no direct method to assess the health of platelets, one of the most critical component of the blood, which play a huge role in helping blood clot after an injury.
Researchers at the University of Washington have created a novel microfluidic device that measures platelet forces in real time to help doctors determine which trauma patients might need a blood transfusion upon being admitted to a hospital.
The research team also hopes the device will be useful for measuring platelet strength in other areas of medicine, such as measuring how blood-thinning medications affect different patients or helping neurosurgeons monitor patients for bleeding complications during surgery.