In May 2020, PixCell Medical collaborated with Interreg Germany-Denmark’s Changing Cancer Care (CCC) initiative, to enable home-based blood testing to support treatment of cancer patients in homecare settings. The goal? Limiting immunocompromised patients’ exposure to contagion in a hospital.

Cancer patients in Denmark have been trained to use the HemoScreen to perform the 5-part Complete Blood Count (CBC) test required to manage their treatments and support clinical decision-making. Within just 5 minutes and with one finger prick of blood, HemoScreen provides results for 20 standard CBC parameters. Using HemoScreen, patients can safely and routinely test their blood levels at home, without having to waste time and precious energy in oncology wards.

“I find it really exciting [to be able to take my own blood sample at home] and I like to take the time to study the blood samples to see how they may have changed from before,” said Lene Bergo, a breast cancer patient who uses PixCell’s HemoScreen to take her own blood samples. “Taking a blood sample by yourself is easy!”

Watch this video to learn more about this partnership and the impact it has on the lives of cancer patients in Denmark.

Disclaimer: The HemoScreen is not approved for home-use. This clinical trial collaboration is being performed under local ethical approval.

“We found the PixCell hematology analyzer simple to operate, extremely portable and reliable. Our non-technical staff quickly and easily learned how to perform the testing.

The small size of the machine and ability to test either finger stick capillary blood or drops of blood from collection tubes allowed us to use this machine in a variety of settings.

I appreciated the use of image analysis to accurately deliver complete blood counts with 5 part differential testing in just a few minutes. This versatile analyzer will be extremely helpful in providing accurate and reliable CBC with differential results in settings (i.e outpatient, clinic, bedside) where immediate feedback plays a significant role in patient outcomes.

This includes, in part, pediatric and adult patients with de novo acute leukemia, marked neutropenia, or red blood cell and platelet disorders that result in significant and life threatening bleeding”

Prof. Carla Wilson MD, PhD

“Overcrowding and prolonged wait times have been linked to adverse clinical outcomes and decreased patient satisfaction.

While no one factor can be identified as the root cause of this issue, decrease in delays between sample collection and test results can provide health care professionals with the opportunity to arrive at faster care management decisions, resulting in increased patient throughput and decreasing average wait times.

We have thoroughly evaluated the HemoScreen performance and usability in different settings and found it extremely easy-to-use and highly accurate thus a perfect fit for urgent care settings and primary care.”

Prof. Anders Larsson

“The HemoScreen may solve a truly unmet need at the oncology clinic by providing CBC results immediately for patients enlisted for chemotherapy.
Current solutions do not provide results which are consistent with core lab results e.g. 3-part differential which is problematic for physicians”

Prof. Robert H. Christenson, Professor of Pathology

“Advanced technologies are available today that allow performing tests that traditionally were only performed in labs by complex instruments.
Near patient, testing provides timely results that can be acted upon immediately. With near-patient analyzes, one has the opportunity to reduce TAT, which in turn can lead to faster decision-making regarding enrollment/discharge, early diagnosis, smaller tests and shorter stay time.
Time to results with PixCell HemoScreen was on average shorter by 20 minutes vs clinical lab. The price per test in the lab is lower for routine analysis but HemoScreen test is less expensive when emergency testing is required. The results indicate that using the new near-patient instrument could positively affect the overload on the emergency rooms.
Based on the results, it can be concluded that PixCell HemoScreen generates equivalent results compared to a clinical laboratory device. The instrument was also easy to use with the accessories. Based on the current cost and time saving, it would be cost-effective to use the instrument at emergency clinics”

Dr. Elisabeth Aardal

“The CBC analysis performed by large hematology instruments in a centralized laboratory is a screening test. However, despite extensive automation, the centralized laboratories have some inherent challenges (e.g. sample logistics, waiting time on the automated track etc) that makes it difficult to achieve turn-around times (TATs) from requisition/arrival of the patient at the ward to final result in less than 1-2 hrs. A way of overcoming these challenges and achieving TAT<10 min is to decentralized the CBC analyses using Point-of-care (POC) hematology devices to screen WBC, platelet counts, and hemoglobin. These POC instruments could also be excellent candidates for home monitoring of patients obviating the need to travel over long distances to the hospital as they are safe, user-friendly, and portable. The HemoScreen instrument provides CBC test with a quality that both fulfil the clinical needs and has a short turnaround time. The robust analytical method with single-use cartridge and easy operation makes the HemoScreen a good choice for smaller outpatient clinics and also potentially will suit for home monitoring.
The HemoScreen gives opportunities for use, both in decision-making in relation to general out-patient chemotherapy administration, but also in the out-patient handling of leukemia patients with chemotherapy-induced pancytopenia. Within a few minutes after blood sampling, important decisions can be taken regarding the need for platelet and red blood cell transfusion, but also then to initiate and stop antibiotic prophylaxis depending on the ANC.
Out-patients with acute leukemia have numerous visits to the clinic during their treatment, which includes several courses of chemotherapy, leading to deep and prolong pancytopenia over a total period of 4 to 6 months. The use of HemoScreen in this setting will therefore have a considerable impact on reducing the total time spent in hospitals on a day-to-day basis for patients undergoing treatment for acute leukemia. Furthermore, fast decision making in smaller (isolated) units have become very important during the COVID19 epidemic”

Prof. Lennart Friis-Hansen