Flipped Quick-Response Code Enables Reliable Blood Grouping

Abstract

Accurate and rapid blood typing plays a vital role in a variety of biomedical and forensic scenarios, but recognizing weak agglutination remains challenging. Herein, we demonstrated a flipping identification with a prompt error-discrimination (FLIPPED) platform for automatic blood group readouts. Bromocresol green dye was exploited as a characteristic chromatography indicator for the differentiation of plasma from whole blood by presenting a teal color against a brown color. After integrating these color changes into a quick-response (QR) code, prompt typing of ABO and Rhesus groups was automatically achieved and data could be uploaded wirelessly within 30 s using a commercially available smartphone to facilitate blood cross-matching. We further designed a color correction model and algorithm to remove potential errors from scanning angles and ambient light intensities, by which weak agglutination could be accurately recognized. With comparable accuracy and repeatability to classical column assay in grouping 450 blood samples, the proposed approach further demonstrates to be a versatile sample-to-result platform for clinical diagnostics, food safety, and environmental monitoring.

Blood Group Testing

“…In one study, this method exhibited similar accuracy and reproducibility as the classical column assay when tested on 450 blood samples (41). Based on the same principle, another group developed bromocresol green dye and antibody-coated paper strips, which typed 3,550 human blood samples with comparable accuracy to the classic gel-card analysis (42).…”

“…In general, routine paper testing techniques may encounter inherent environmental challenges and low precision during the readout process. A novel method was developed for rapid and reliable blood typing using linter paper as the matrix and the dye bromocresol green that changes color in the presence of different blood components with flipping identification with a prompt error-discrimination platform and the color correction algorithm (41). As a result, the color change of the indicator dye can be used to determine the blood group.…”

“…Additionally, some novel detection methods can also detect rare blood groups using small amounts of samples, such as Kleenex paper towel-based elution and direct flowthrough methods (34), bromocresol green paper strip (41), nitrocellulose-based lateral-flow technique (MDmulticard R ) (128), microfluidic thread-based analytical device (50), SPR technique (73), etc. These rare blood group detection approaches can shed light on the most promising strategies.…”

Merging microfluidics with luminescence immunoassays for urgent point-of-care diagnostics of COVID-19

“…In addition, mobile health platforms were established to read and transfer results [ 73 , 76 , 313 ]. Given throughput, scientists put arrays into use for LFIAs [ 117 , 314 ]. Particularly, Jiang's group embedded skiving stacked sheets of papers into test strips for rapid and multiplexed immunoassays [ 315 ].…”

Programmable molecular circuit discriminates multidrug-resistant bacteria

“…Molecular recognition elements that can anchor the bacterial surface protein with high specificity and affinity in a short time provide an innovative tool for signal conversion and break the bottleneck of lysis steps [ [19] , [20] , [21] ]. Among those molecular recognition elements ranging from antibodies to cellular wall-binding domain proteins, aptamers with easy reprogramming potential and thermal stability have attracted increasing attention [ [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] ]. Therefore, various aptasensors conjugated with isothermal amplification technologies have been developed to allow rapid and direct determination of bacteria [ [26] , [27] , [28] ].…”