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Millions of people worldwide are affected by cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) resulting from blood clotting events, posing a significant health challenge. Warfarin is a common medicine that is used for thinning blood. However, the impact of a patient's daily diet on warfarin's effectiveness necessitates adjusting the dosage based on blood coagulation levels. Blood coagulation condition is commonly indicated by the international normalized ratio (INR). However, frequent hospital visits for coagulation tests conducted by trained personnel are inconvenient. Addressing this challenge, we have developed an innovative, cost-effective system that leverages smartphones for point-of-care INR testing. This device consists of two primary components—a 3D printed platform and customized microfluidic cartridges. Its foldable design enables easy transportation and enhanced durability, and the smartphone case on the platform is tilted at a 30- degree angle to accommodate both transparent samples (e.g., serum) and colored samples (e.g., whole blood). Illumination is ensured by LED backlight modules within the 3D-printed platform for uniform video recording conditions. The device utilizes a specially developed algorithm to process sample videos and obtain the INR level. Remarkably, the platform costs less than $8. We computed the flow stopping time of both commercial control samples and clinic human whole blood samples and evaluated the calculated INR values with the measured INR from a commercial blood analyzer. The results demonstrated an accuracy rate of over 90%. This platform presents an affordable and easily accessible solution for monitoring blood coagulation condition, offering significant benefits to patients and healthcare providers alike.
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