Current Status of the Development
of Blood-Based Point-of-Care
Microdevices
Vijai Laxmi, Siddhartha Tripathi, and Amit Agrawal
1 Introduction
Blood may be considered as a storehouse of health information of the human body
and can be easily accessible from an individual. It is one of the most common fluids
with applications in point-of-care testing. Testing of blood components is a common
procedure employed for the diagnosis of diseases. Due to the presence of a large
number of analytes or indicators, blood serves as an index to various diseases and
testifies its importance in disease diagnostics and therapeutics. Blood is composed
of cells and the liquid portion known as plasma; cells are 45–50% while plasma
is 50–55% (v/v). The blood cells constitute red blood cell (RBCs) or erythrocytes,
white blood cells (WBCs) or leukocytes, and platelets or thrombocytes [1, 2]. The
constituents of blood are shown in Fig. 1. Each component of blood carries important
analytes and information linked with human health condition. For example, blood
plasma is required for a wide variety of clinical tests, such as in blood sugar and
cholesterol tests while red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are required for
the detection of malaria, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and cardiovascular
diseases.
Conventional diagnostic techniques require specialized equipment and setups.
Hospitals and clinics are also needed for clinical diagnostics of the specimen. In a
common scenario, a patient consults a doctor during illness phase and the doctor
recommends a diagnostic test (commonly blood based). Later, the patient visits a
hospital or a clinic where blood is extracted from the patient employing venipuncture
and the sample is sent to a centralized laboratory for further assessment. Finally, the
results are conveyed to the doctor for further analysis and medication. Overall, this
V. Laxmi · A. Agrawal (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India
e-mail: amit.agrawal@iitb.ac.in
S. Tripathi
Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Goa Campus, Goa 403726, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
U. S. Dixit and S. K. Dwivedy (eds.), Mechanical Sciences,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5712-5_8
169
of Blood-Based Point-of-Care
Microdevices
Vijai Laxmi, Siddhartha Tripathi, and Amit Agrawal
1 Introduction
Blood may be considered as a storehouse of health information of the human body
and can be easily accessible from an individual. It is one of the most common fluids
with applications in point-of-care testing. Testing of blood components is a common
procedure employed for the diagnosis of diseases. Due to the presence of a large
number of analytes or indicators, blood serves as an index to various diseases and
testifies its importance in disease diagnostics and therapeutics. Blood is composed
of cells and the liquid portion known as plasma; cells are 45–50% while plasma
is 50–55% (v/v). The blood cells constitute red blood cell (RBCs) or erythrocytes,
white blood cells (WBCs) or leukocytes, and platelets or thrombocytes [1, 2]. The
constituents of blood are shown in Fig. 1. Each component of blood carries important
analytes and information linked with human health condition. For example, blood
plasma is required for a wide variety of clinical tests, such as in blood sugar and
cholesterol tests while red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are required for
the detection of malaria, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and cardiovascular
diseases.
Conventional diagnostic techniques require specialized equipment and setups.
Hospitals and clinics are also needed for clinical diagnostics of the specimen. In a
common scenario, a patient consults a doctor during illness phase and the doctor
recommends a diagnostic test (commonly blood based). Later, the patient visits a
hospital or a clinic where blood is extracted from the patient employing venipuncture
and the sample is sent to a centralized laboratory for further assessment. Finally, the
results are conveyed to the doctor for further analysis and medication. Overall, this
V. Laxmi · A. Agrawal (B)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India
e-mail: amit.agrawal@iitb.ac.in
S. Tripathi
Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Goa Campus, Goa 403726, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
U. S. Dixit and S. K. Dwivedy (eds.), Mechanical Sciences,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5712-5_8
169