Israeli PixCell's device to help in US rural health research
The HemoScreen device is FDA cleared to perform the Complete Blood Count (CBC), which can be used at the point of testing.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: FEBRUARY 24, 2021 09:45PixCell Medical(photo credit: Courtesy)
A device produced by the Israeli company PixCell was selected for a research study into health-related concerns of rural communities in the United States.PixCell's miniaturized, portable hematology analyzer will be used for the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) study, which is led by a group of researchers from 16 different US institutions. The study hopes to understand the health concerns, as well as different aspects of health in southern rural communities. The research will include 4,600 residents from ten rural counties in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi.The HemoScreen device has received Food and Drug Administration approval to perform a Complete Blood Count (CBC), which usually requires a stationary device.“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," he said. "The HemoScreen will be a key piece of research equipment in our cohort study.”The HemoScreen will be used to examine residents in their home environment. This will also help test its performance characteristics, being a portable device which can provide a complete blood count."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," he said. "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.”The RURAL Study is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
