In some instances, an apparatus can include a light sensitive imaging sensor having a surface to receive a fluid sample, a body to be moved relative to the light sensitive imaging sensor and having a surface to touch a portion of the fluid sample, and a carrier to move the body toward the surface of the light sensitive imaging sensor to cause the surface of the body to touch the portion of the fluid sample, so that as the surface of the body touches the portion of the fluid, the surface of the body (i) is parallel to the surface of the light sensitive imaging sensor, and (ii) settles on top of the fluid sample independently of motion of the carrier.

A device for dispensing a medicament and/or dietary supplement to a user comprises a housing; a sample inlet unit; a sample analysis unit; a data processing unit; and a dispensing assembly including a cartridge holder and a dispensing mechanism comprising means for dispensing a metered dose of said medicament or dietary supplement. The device may be used in a method for the customised provision of medicaments and/or dietary supplements to a user.

A panel of metabolic biomarkers for differential diagnosis of stable angina pectoris and acute coronary syndrome is published herein. The panel comprises one or more of the metabolic biomarkers, including malic acid, taurine, arachidonic acid, citramalic acid, methionine, pentadecanoic acid. Single use of the 6 differential metabolites provided clinically diagnostic value of SA vs. ACS with AUC>0.7. When combined, the more metabolites, the larger of AUC. The highest AUC of 0.987 was obtained when all of the six metabolites were combined to distinguish SA vs. ACS with sensitivity 96.8% and specificity 97.7% using optimal cut-off value. The metabolic biomarkers provided by the invention can be used for differential diagnosis of SA vs. ACS of high accuracy, sensitivity and specificity.

A blood coagulation analyzer comprises: a light irradiation unit configured to apply light onto a container configured to store a measurement specimen containing a sample and a reagent, and comprising: light sources including a first light source configured to generate light of a first wavelength for blood coagulation time measurement, a second light source configured to generate light of a second wavelength for synthetic substrate measurement, and a third light source configured to generate light of a third wavelength for immunonephelometry measurement; and optical fiber parts facing the respective light sources; a light reception part configured to receive light transmitted through the container; and an analysis unit configured to analyze the sample using an electric signal outputted from the light reception part.

The present technology discloses a cost-effective, single use bag or container for storing biological substances that incorporates on its inner wall an electronic device that is configured to measure physiological and/or physical parameters of the enclosed biological substances, such as source history, identification, demographics, time stamping, temperature, pH, conductivity, glucose, O.sub.2, CO.sub.2 levels etc. The electronic device of the disclosed bag comprises a sensor configured to measure physiological and/or physical parameters of the biological substances enclosed within the bag, and a radio-frequency (RF) device communicably coupled to the sensor and configured to: (a) acquire from the sensor data associated with the measured parameters, (b) store the acquired sensor data in nonvolatile memory, and (c) communicate the stored data wirelessly to a RF reader.

Biomarkers of high blood pressure are measured to identify high blood pressure of the subject based on one or more biomarkers. In many embodiments, the response of the biomarker to blood pressure occurs over the course of at least an hour, such that the high blood pressure identification is based on a cumulative effect of physiology of the subject over a period of time. The methods and apparatus of identifying high blood pressure with biomarkers have the advantage of providing improved treatment of the subject, as the identified biomarker can be related to an effect of the high blood pressure on the subject, such as a biomarker corresponding to central blood pressure. The sample can be subjected to increases in one or more of pressure or temperatures, and changes in the blood sample measured over time.

Provided herein are methods for determining the efficacy of treatment for polycystic kidney disease (PKD) in a patient, diagnosing PKD in a patient, staging PKD in a patient, and monitoring PKD in a patient. These methods include determining a single or multiple levels of one or more markers selected from the group of Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA), cyclin D1, cyclin D3, MAPKERK kinase 1 (MEK), ribosomal protein S6 (S6), phosphorylated ribosomal protein S6 (pS6), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (pERK), protein kinase B (Akt), phosphorylated protein kinase B (pAkt), caspase-2, total S6, and retinoblastoma binding protein (RBBP). Also provided are kits that include at least three antibodies that specifically bind to one or more of these markers.

A system of measuring hemoglobin and bilirubin parameters in a whole blood sample using optical absorbance. The system includes an optical-sample module, a spectrometer module, an optical fiber module optically connecting the optical-sample module to the spectrometer module, and a processor module. The optical-sample module has a light-emitting module having a LED light source, a cuvette and a calibrating-light module. The processor module receives and processes an electrical signal from the spectrometer module and transforms the electrical signal into an output signal useable for displaying and reporting hemoglobin parameter values and/or total bilirubin parameter values for the whole blood sample.

A method of measuring whole-blood hemoglobin parameters includes providing a LED light source, guiding light having the spectral range from the LED light source along an optical path, providing a cuvette module with a sample receiving chamber, providing a pair of first and second optical diffusers disposed in the optical path where the cuvette module is disposed between the pair of first and second optical diffusers, guiding light from the cuvette module into an optical spectrometer, and processing an electrical signal from the spectrometer into an output signal useable for displaying and reporting hemoglobin parameter values and/or total bilirubin parameter values of the sample of whole blood.

The present invention provides a method of identifying an animal for which antibiotic treatment, anti-infective treatment, probiotic treatment, immunostimulant treatment, additional monitoring and/or a separate or alternative management strategy is appropriate, comprising: a) collecting a sample from said animal; b) performing a leukocyte differential cell count on said sample; c) comparing said leukocyte differential cell count of (b) with an index of infection; and d) initiating antibiotic treatment, anti-infective treatment, probiotic treatment, immunostimulant treatment, additional monitoring and/or a separate or alternative management strategy of said animal on the basis of said comparing step.