Researchers have come up with a new easy blood test which can diagnose asthma much more accurately and faster.
Researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison used neutrophil cell function to show asthma diagnosis results in a study.
Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in the body and generally are the first cells to migrate toward inflammation.
The researchers developed the kit-on-a-lid-assay (KOALA) micro-fluidic technology that allows them to detect neutrophils using just a single drop of blood.
Using simple lids and bases, researchers place a KOALA lid containing a chemical mixture onto the base containing the blood sample.
That chemical mixture triggers neutrophil migration and researchers can automatically track and analyse the neutrophil chemotaxis velocity using custom software.