A novel method for blood‐typing using nitrocellulose

Abstract

Blood wicking in its steady-state form, i.e. the uniform distribution of blood cells in plasma, is completely different from that in its coagulated form on a porous surface like paper. The hydrophilic property of the cellulose leads to a significant wicking of the blood cells on paper fibers after rinsing with isotonic solution. The difference in the wicking length of the blood cells in steady state and that in the coagulated form could be considered as a criterion to recognize the blood type in a paper-based kit. However, owing to the molecular structure of the nitrocellulose, a better process occurs while separating the coagulated blood from the steady-state form of cells. Therefore, it is possible to use the nitrocellulose for the blood-typing kit which leads to a simpler way to diagnose a blood type. Two series of experiments were performed on nitrocellulose membrane. First, antibody solutions and blood samples were sequentially absorbed on nitrocellulose strips, allowed to interact, rinsed with an isotonic solution and distilled water, and image processing performed on a digital picture of the remaining blood cells. The efficiency of the agglutinated blood cell fixation was quantified by red color intensity. Then, it was demonstrated that there is no considerable difference in fixation of agglutinated blood cells with rinsing using isotonic and nonisotonic solutions. This fact can be a considerable advantage over paper since it can eliminate the probable mistake from using unisotonic solution for rinsing. Second, owing to the nonwicking property of the blood cells on the hydrophobic nitrocellulose fibers, we employed another diagnostic criterion and investigated nitrocellulose blood-typing prototypes. The nitrocellulose blood-typing kit provides more simple, sensitive and trustworthy assay for rapid blood typing in situations with no access to laboratory facilities.

Blood Group Testing

“…The forward and reverse ABO blood group typing were strongly correlated with the slide and tube testing (27). Compared to ordinary paper, nitrocellulose-based paper can fix agglutinated blood cells using less sample volume and exhibits higher accuracy and reproducibility (28). Due to the higher degree of separation between agglutinated and non-agglutinated RBCs on the nitrocellulose matrix, the color changes are more significant.…”

Letter to the editor regarding ‘A novel method for blood‐typing using Nitrocellulose’

“…The mechanism that they employed was based on rinsing off the agglutinated RBC from one layer to another. When RBCs were agglutinated with ABO antigens, blood group became detectable, whereas RBCs could not be transferred to the second layer (Afshari & Abolfathi, 2017).…”

Paper Microfluidics for Cell Analysis

“…However, the visual color change can be affected by ambient light intensity, individual mood, and eye conditions, leading to inaccuracy . Confocal microscopy, camera, or smartphone is used to capture images and images are analyzed by software, such as Matlab, Image J, or mobile app . For example, Zhang et al developed a paper‐based platform by using immobilized antibodies and bromocresol green dye for rapid and reliable blood grouping, where dye‐assisted color changes corresponding to distinct blood components provided a visual readout .…”