Researchers at the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, Los Angeles, and IRIS International, Inc., are developing the hand-held device to provide accurate appraisals of blood chemistry using minute blood samples in a process that would take only about two minutes.

"Analysis of blood composition is how doctors test for infections and deficiencies in the immune system, monitor health and make medical diagnoses," said Yu-Chong Tai, an investigator with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, which is funding the effort.

"Looking ahead to future missions to the moon and Mars, astronauts will need to perform simple blood tests to get up-to-the-minute information on their health."

The existing and slow process of assessing blood composition requires bulky counting machines, trained technicians and a large amount of blood (approximately two syringes or 10 milliliters), so at present it cannot be done in space. Instead, astronauts must draw blood samples in orbit for analysis after their return.

"In addition to space medicine, the technology could be used in neonatal care since large blood draws are not possible with infants," Tai added. "Normal blood-count machines are large to accommodate many samples and multiple tests, so to be safe, technicians take more blood from a patient than is actually needed."

Tai said assessing blood composition on a molecular level requires only a tiny amount, so "by miniaturizing the counting machine, we're able to take a smaller sample, making the device a portable tool for space flight and in clinical settings."

The blood-count device will separate and identify components of blood such as red and white blood cells, lipids, proteins or oxygen. Working with IRIS International, a maker of digital diagnostic systems, Tai was able to build micro-sized valves, pumps and flow chambers that operate and fit together in the lab-on-a-chip.

"Only a drop of blood is needed on the tip of the chip," he said.

The device pulls a blood sample into a mixing chamber where it adds anti-coagulation chemicals. Because blood has a dense population of cells, the sample then travels to a reservoir where a solution dilutes the concentration two or three times. The sample then goes to a cell separator that divides molecules based on size.

"In this case, white blood cells will be separated from red blood cells," Tai explained. "Because of fluid dynamics, larger molecules like white blood cells will bypass a chamber that they can't fit into and flow into the space where they do, thus separating the blood cell types."

The cell separator puts space between molecules so that they flow easily into the counter. In large blood-count machines, cells are calculated by a technology called a Coulter counter. Tai's lab-on-a-chip device uses two separate-yet-parallel micro-Coulter counters to calculate white blood cells and red blood cells independently.

Tai and colleagues plan to expand the technology to assess a variety of molecules in addition to blood, add the ability to measure fluids like plasma and urine, or incorporate cell surface marker and DNA analysis.

"The chip can be designed for many applications. The miniaturized cell-counter has potential as a diagnostic tool for cancer detection by searching in plasma for certain biomolecules that could be early indicators," Tai said. "Science has dictated that all of these things can be done, we've just needed to develop the technology."

NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration space flight. The Institute's research and education projects take place at more than 70 institutions across the United States.

Related Links
National Space Biomedical Research Institute
Iris International

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