RURAL Cohort Research Initiative to Utilize PixCell’s HemoScreen™ Hematology Analyzer
Study seeks to identify specific health concerns of rural communities in southeastern United States, with plans to use HemoScreen in Mobile Examination Unit (MEU) Lab
PixCell Medical, innovator of rapid diagnostic solutions at the point-of-care, announced today that the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal Study (RURAL) has selected PixCell’s novel miniaturized, portable hematology analyzer, HemoScreen™, as part of its six year research study, aiming to gain insight into the specific health-related concerns of the rural southeastern United States’ population. The RURAL Study is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
Led by a group of researchers from 16 different US institutions, the RURAL study aims to understand health concerns specific to rural communities in the South, particularly related to increased rates of heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders. Focusing on ten rural counties in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the research team will examine about 4,600 residents to study different aspects of their health.
“We are aiming to better understand the health concerns facing people in rural communities who don’t have the same healthcare access as their urban counterparts. Our research initiative aims to assess people’s health right at their doorsteps,” said Jon Peter Durda, Ph.D., Faculty Scientist at the Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, and co-investigator of the study. “Rural residents often encounter barriers to critical healthcare services and restricted ability to receive the care they need, including limited access to clinics and labs within a reasonable proximity. The HemoScreen will be a key piece of research equipment in our cohort study.”
RURAL plans to deploy HemoScreen hematology analyzers within the MEU lab to do phenotypic measurements in a non-clinical research setting in the rural south, and to test the performance characteristics of the HemoScreen in this setting. The blood count data collected will be analyzed as part of the broader study to better understand risk and resilience factors that may be specific to members of rural communities.
The HemoScreen device is FDA cleared to perform the Complete Blood Count (CBC) with intended use at the point of care. HemoScreen is the only FDA-cleared 5-part differential, cartridge-based hematology analyzer indicated for use at the point of care. The HemoScreen’s small size, ease-of-use and portability make it unique and relevant to the remote locations in the research study.
“Portable and reliable blood analyzers are essential for understanding people’s health. For those living in rural areas with limited access to lab-grade diagnostic devices, HemoScreen can play an important role in gathering hematological data to support the research efforts of the RURAL cohort study,” said Dr. Avishay Bransky, CEO of PixCell Medical. “One of the crucial differentiators of the HemoScreen for this study in particular is its portability. Most standard hematology analyzers cannot be transported as they require constant maintenance and recalibration – not so with the HemoScreen. We expect to gather high quality health insights from the HemoScreen’s deployment with the RURAL Cohort study.”
