Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 13, 2026
A Precision Medicine Tool for Measurement and Monitoring of Hemoglobin S in Sickle Cell Disease Patients Receiving Transfusion Therapy
Emerging point-of-care technologies for sickle cell disease screening and monitoring
Yunus Alapan1, Arwa Fraiwan1, Erdem Kucukal1
1a Case Biomanufacturing and Microfabrication Laboratory, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department , Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland , OH , USA.
Insights
New micro/nano technologies offer simple, rapid, and affordable point-of-care screening for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). These platforms address challenges in early diagnosis and ongoing patient monitoring, particularly in resource-limited settings.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Point-of-Care Diagnostics
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) impacts millions globally, predominantly in disadvantaged populations.
- Early diagnosis and lifelong monitoring are crucial for managing SCD.
- Current diagnostic methods face challenges in resource-limited settings, hindering early intervention and contributing to childhood mortality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe emerging point-of-care micro/nano platform technologies for SCD screening and monitoring.
- To critically discuss the current state of these technologies, their challenges, and future directions.
Main Methods:
- Review and discussion of recent advancements in micro/nano platform technologies for SCD.
- Analysis of the applicability of these technologies for both screening and monitoring.
Main Results:
- Microtechnologies enable simple, rapid, and affordable SCD screening.
- These technologies show potential for universal screening in resource-limited areas.
- SCD monitoring presents greater complexity than diagnosis, requiring further validation.
Conclusions:
- Emerging micro/nano platforms offer promising solutions for accessible SCD screening.
- Further validation is essential for implementing these technologies in SCD patient monitoring.
- These novel microdevices could be valuable in clinical trials for new SCD therapies.
Introduction:
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) affects 100,000 Americans and more than 14 million people globally, mostly in economically disadvantaged populations, and requires early diagnosis after birth and constant monitoring throughout the life-span of the patient. Areas covered: Early diagnosis of SCD still remains a challenge in preventing childhood mortality in the developing world due to requirements of skilled personnel and high-cost of currently available modalities. On the other hand, SCD monitoring presents insurmountable challenges due to heterogeneities among patient populations, as well as in the same individual longitudinally. Here, we describe emerging point-of-care micro/nano platform technologies for SCD screening and monitoring, and critically discuss current state of the art, potential challenges associated with these technologies, and future directions. Expert commentary: Recently developed microtechnologies offer simple, rapid, and affordable screening of SCD and have the potential to facilitate universal screening in resource-limited settings and developing countries. On the other hand, monitoring of SCD is more complicated compared to diagnosis and requires comprehensive validation of efficacy. Early use of novel microdevices for patient monitoring might come in especially handy in new clinical trial designs of emerging therapies.
