Anaemia detector

A new clinical detector that could improve care for patients suffering from a painful and incurable blood disease is being developed as part of a research project involving University of Nottingham academics.

The new Sickle Cell Anaemia Detector research project has been funded with a £237,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund - £112,000 of which will be coming to Nottingham - and involves partners at Imperial College and the Sickle Cell Society.

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is one of the three most common of the world’s inherited diseases and affects 15,000 people in England alone. SCD causes major organ damage, drastically shortens life expectancy to between 40 and 50 years and is found in communities that either live in or originated from the global malaria belt. SCD fluctuates between dormant phases and painful crises that often need hospital treatment - adding to the healthcare burden.

The disease is caused by haemoglobin binding together, which leaves it unable to absorb oxygen from the air in the lungs. A minority of red blood cells become permanently rigid and change shape (hence ‘sickle’) and during crises they can obstruct blood vessels, causing intense pain.