Handheld devices monitor patient blood clotting

Showcased at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry annual conference, the devices, branded as 'Coagmax' and 'Coaglite', are a point-of-care test and a home-use test respectively that clinicians and patients can use to establish the correct dosage of anti-coagulation medication such as Warfarin and to monitor treatment.

The devices are set to be trialled with 250 patients in three major cardiac centres in Florida from October with product launches scheduled for mid-2012.

Both devices incorporate a disposable Smartstrip that uses embedded sensors to measure the clotting speed of blood from a drop of the patient's blood taken by a finger prick, with the results displayed on a handheld reader.

The Smartstrip medical diagnostic strip is based on a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) with an on-board memory chip and was originally created as a movement system for nano-robots.

The devices will be introduced to the German market in November at the Medica medical trade fair.

The Microvisk devices enable patients to test their blood clotting ability at home, in the same way that people with diabetes test for glucose.

The Microvisk Smartstrip is claimed to require far less blood than other systems, which means less pain for the user.

The coagulation status (clotting speed) of the patient is measured by tiny multi-layered paddles on the surface of the strip and a memory chip ensures the device is calibrated to provide the highest levels of accuracy, while the MEMS technology means that high volumes of the device can be manufactured at low cost.