Portable device makes rapid count of white blood cells

The CytoTracker Leukometer device is designed to aid the detection of elevated or reduced white blood cell counts, which is a critical signal of a patient’s immune system status. A high or low white blood cell count may indicate the intensity of an infection, the presence of life-threatening conditions or determine how patients are responding to chemotherapy and psychotropic drugs.

The development of the device by researchers at Rutgers startup RizLab Health Inc. along with the clinical validation is described in PLOS One.  

Mehdi Javanmard, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Rutgers School of Engineering, is the co-founder and CEO of Princeton-based RizLab Health Inc.

“Normally, doing a blood count requires a phlebotomist taking a needle stick and collecting significant amounts of venous blood and sending the samples off to labs where they are tested, sometimes taking hours or even days,” Javanmard said in a statement. “Our handheld device enables near-patient testing, while only requiring a tiny amount of blood and returning results within minutes, allowing clinicians to make decisions almost immediately.”