More than 5% of the world’s population are healthy carriers of a gene for sickle-cell disease.
In some regions, over 25% of people are carriers.
Every year more than 5 million children are born with sickle cell trait, and over 400,000 are born with sickle cell disease.
Newborn screening is not widespread in low-resource regions and sickle cell disease has up to 80% childhood mortality, without proper treatment.
Newborn screening followed up with available, inexpensive treatment significantly reduces sickle cell disease mortality.
HemoTypeSC™ is a rapid test kit for the determination of hemoglobin type in whole blood.
This test provides point-of-care detection of hemoglobin phenotypes HbAA (normal), HbSS and HbSC (sickle cell disease), HbCC (hemoglobin C disease), and HbAS and HbAC (carrier or trait).
Using about one microliter of whole blood, results are available at the point-of-care in about ten minutes.
Testing can be performed in virtually any location. HemoTypeSC™ does not require instrumentation, electricity, refrigeration, or extensive training. It is simple to use and appropriate for screening individuals in rural and low-resource settings.
Preliminary data indicates that HemoTypeSC™ has shown 100% clinical accuracy in validation studies involving thousands of patients throughout Africa, India, and the Caribbean. Please contact us for more details.
In January, 2018, HemoTypeSC™ was utilized at Holy Family Hospital in Techiman, Ghana to screen over 400 newborns, infants, children, and adults for hemoglobins A, S, and C. This two-minute video tells the story.
Healthcare professionals using HemoTypeSC™ describe the positive outcomes for patients in clinics and hospitals around the world.