In medical emergencies, knowing how blood thinners affect a person’s ability to clot can be lifesaving when decisions must be made quickly. To help in these urgent moments, a group of researchers have studied a new small portable device that can measure the effects of blood-diluted drugs in the body. Their goal is to find out whether the tool can quickly and accurately check blood clotting at the patient’s bedside, especially when laboratory tests that require special equipment are too slow or unusable.
Researchers Dr. Sasha Bakhru, Dr. Xuan Jiang, Dr. Lirong Chen, Dr. Dardan Osmani, Dardan Osmani, Kelly Kronen, Daryl Mootoo and Stefan Zappe of Perosphere Technologies Inc., by Hofstra Northwell Zucker School of Medicine, research provided by the School of Medicine to confirm the equipment for beginners. Their findings appear in the Dear Science Journal Scientific Reports, focusing on the accuracy, accuracy and consistency of the device compared to the older manual method, which involves physically manipulating blood samples.
Tests show that new handheld instruments can detect changes in blood clots easier than older manual methods. It also makes the results faster (3-8 minutes), cutting the waiting time in half. The assay is more sensitive and can detect a small amount of blood in the body. Measurements are accurate and precise, allowing doctors to make important decisions about how to manage patients on blood.
Professor Ansell pointed out that the device can be very helpful in reality, such as severe bleeding, emergency surgery, stroke, or reaction to medication when worried about the patient. “A coagulant instrument of an instrument, an instrument that measures how long it takes for blood to respond more sensitively to each blood we test than traditional methods,” said Professor Ansell. “It gives faster results and better detects the effects of the drug.”
Professor Ansell’s team also found that the tool provides consistent results for various diluents. They tested it with several commonly used drugs (axiban, rivasasaban, edoxaban and dabigatran), which are often modern blood thinners that are commonly used to prevent strokes and treat clots – and the commonly used injectable thinner Enoxapararin called Enoxaparin, a commonly used low molecular weight heparin that is usually given. The device provides results even at the lowest levels of these drugs. It shows a stable predictable pattern: higher drug levels lead to longer clotting. “The handheld test helps determine when drug levels can guide treatment decisions, which is particularly valuable in emergencies,” Professor Ansell said.
Unlike traditional methods that involve chemicals and may require longer, the new device uses built-in sensors and microfluidics (micro channels that control the flow of fluids) to test blood quickly with minimal effort. Older ways rely heavily on one person to watch and timing, which can lead to errors. By contrast, this new system is automatic and easy to use, making the doctors and nurses next to the bed more practical.
Today, this handheld coagulator shows strong potential as a fast and reliable method for measuring rare blood thinners. It avoids the drawbacks of older testing methods and provides a clearer understanding of the patient’s blood clotting in intensive care situations where the measurements can be beneficial. With more research, the tool may soon change hospitals and clinics for emergency cases involving blood thinners.
Journal Reference
Bakhru SH, Jiang X., Chen L., Osmani D., Kronen K., Mootoo D., Zappe S., Ansell J. Scientific Reports, 2025. Doi:
