Abstract P602: Complete Blood Count Analysis in the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Cohort Study With a Point of Care Instrument

Abstract

Background: The RURAL cohort study is a uniquely designed study using a Mobile Examination Unit (MEU) to study heart and lung disorders in rural counties in the southeastern US. Complete blood counts (CBC) are included in the participant baseline examination. We wanted to use an instrument in the MEU for onsite blood counts and chose the Pixcell Hemoscreen, a point-of-care instrument using a unique technology. Before using the Hemoscreen in the RURAL study, it was necessary to ensure that the CBC results would be comparable to laboratory generated results. Methods: We compared CBC results from the Hemoscreen to those from the Sysmex XN9000 at the University of Vermont Medical Center. CBC measurements include erythrocyte count (RBC), white blood cell count (WBC), hemoglobin concentration (HGB), hematocrit value (HCT), and platelet count (PLT). Blood from ten volunteers was analyzed on the Hemoscreen and the Sysmex. Statistics included average, standard deviation, and coefficient of variance (CV) for each of the parameters analyzed. Blood from ten volunteers was assayed on both the Hemoscreen and the Sysmex to compare for accuracy. Blood from three volunteers was analyzed ten times on the Hemoscreen to assess variability. Results: The Hemoscreen and Sysmex reported similar values for WBC, RBC, HCT, HGB and PLT counts, as shown in Figure 1. Between repeat measures conducted on the same sample on the Hemoscreen WBC, RBC, HCT, HGB and PLT showed little variance (%CV = 5.9, 2.7, 2.8, 2.7, and 4.0 respectively). Conclusions: The Hemoscreen data correlated with data generated in a hospital laboratory on the same samples. Variability between multiple measures of the same samples on the Hemoscreen showed acceptable variance. To date over 730 RURAL participants have been seen and the Hemoscreen has proven to be quick, accurate, and reliable.