Measurement of RBC agglutination with microscopic cell image analysis in a microchannel chip.
Since Landsteiner's discovery of ABO blood groups, RBC agglutination has been one of the most important immunohematologic techniques for ABO and RhD blood groupings. The conventional RBC agglutination grading system for RhD blood typings relies on macroscopic reading, followed by the assignment of a grade ranging from (-) to (4+) to the degree of red blood cells clumping. However, with the new scoring method introduced in this report, microscopically captured cell images of agglutinated RBCs, placed in a microchannel chip, are used for analysis. Indeed, the cell images' pixel number first allows the differentiation of agglutinated and non-agglutinated red blood cells. Finally, the ratio of agglutinated RBCs per total RBC counts (CRAT) from 90 captured images is then calculated. During the trial, it was observed that the agglutinated group's CRAT was significantly higher (3.77-0.003) than that of the normal control (0). Based on these facts, it was established that the microchannel method was more suitable for the discrimination between agglutinated RBCs and non-agglutinated RhD negative, and thus more reliable for the grading of RBCs agglutination than the conventional method.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Chi Hyun
CH
Cho
Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Ju Yeon
JY
Kim
Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Agnes E
AE
Nyeck
Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Chae Seung
CS
Lim
Nanoentek Inc., Seoul, Korea.
Dae Sung
DS
Hur
Nanoentek Inc., Seoul, Korea.
Chanil
C
Chung
Nanoentek Inc., Seoul, Korea.
Jun Keun
JK
Chang
College of Bionano Technology, Gachon Bionano Research Institute, Kyungwon University, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Do, Korea.
Seong Soo A
SS
An
School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Sehyun
S
Shin
D000371:Agglutination / Q000502:physiology*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008853:Microscopy
Agglutination; C-reader; CRAT; microchannel chip; scoring