A Biochip Based Medical Device for Point-of-Care ABO Compatibility: Towards a Smart Transfusion Line

ABO mismatch between donor and patient's blood is still the cause of accidents which are sometimes lethal. The main causes of mis-assignment are human errors and wrong identification of patients or blood product. Only a final compatibility test at the patient's bedside can avoid these errors. In some countries, this test is performed using manual procedures. This does not prevent from human manipulation and interpretation errors. In this paper, we present a prototype able to automatically perform a final ABO compatibility test. It relies on the use of disposable antibodies grafted biochips inserted into a mobile reader/actuator. Red blood cells are selectively captured on biochips grafted with antibodies complementary of antigens present on the cells surface. Detection of captured cells is based on optical absorption techniques. So far, our device achieved blood compatibility test with 99.3% sensitivity and 97.9% specificity.