Rapid measurement of formed blood component sedimentation rate from small sample volumes

1. A method comprising:

capturing at least a first image of formed blood component and plasma interface positions at an initial time;

using an accelerated blood component separation technique based on increased effective force on a blood sample for a period of time to separate formed blood components from plasma;

capturing at least a second image of formed blood component and plasma interface positions at a second time during accelerated blood component separation; and

determining a sedimentation rate of the formed blood component based on at least the following: a time-related sedimentation curve and a hematocrit correction factor, wherein the time-related sedimentation curve for at least one formed blood component in said blood sample is determined after accelerated blood component separation has begun.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the accelerated blood component separation technique comprises centrifugation.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein centrifuging occurs at a first speed for a first period of time and then at a second, faster speed for a second period of time.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein centrifuging comprises using a centrifuge configured to allow the blood sample to be visually observed during centrifugation to establish interface positions of one or more formed blood components in the blood sample.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein centrifuging comprises using a centrifuge having a window thereon to enable visual observation of the blood sample to establish erythrocyte/plasma interface positions over time.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein centrifuging comprises using a centrifuge, a light source, and an image capture device to enable visual observation of the blood sample to establish formed blood component/plasma interface positions over time.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein sedimentation rate is calculated based on position of a meniscus of supernatant liquid and an interface position of one or more formed blood components in the second image.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein sedimentation curve data is collected by capturing a plurality of images of interface positions of one or more formed blood components in a centrifuge vessel over the time period.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein pixel positions in the plurality of images are used to accurately determine interface position.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein sedimentation curve data is collected while the sample is being centrifuged.

11. The method of claim 2 , wherein correcting for hematocrit comprises calculating a mathematical function for a plurality of formed blood component interface positions occurring in said curve, said function being operative to correct for sedimentation rate variations due to hematocrit.

12. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

performing image transformation on said images to transform images with curved interfaces into corrected images with straight line interfaces; and

establishing a time-related sedimentation curve based on interface positions in said corrected images, for at least one formed blood component in said blood sample after centrifuging has begun.

13. The method of claim 2 wherein a vessel containing the sample is removed from the centrifuge to obtain said second image.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the vessel is returned to the centrifuge after said image is obtained.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising calibrating sedimentation rates from a centrifuge based technique with sedimentation rates from a reference technique.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the reference technique is the Westergren technique.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein said blood sample is 25 μL or less.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising image transformation for conversion of a curved interface to a flat interface.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein image transformation parameters are selected, video of formed blood component interface position is put through image transformation, and then a region of interest is chosen that covers both the whole range of positions for both air/plasma interface and erythrocyte interface.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein for each timepoint in the video, pixel intensity values for each row across a sample vessel containing the sample, within the region of interest are averaged to produce a single column representing the intensity radially down the sample vessel.

21. A method comprising:

capturing at least a first image of formed blood component and plasma interface positions at an initial time;

using an accelerated blood component separation technique based on increased effective force on a blood sample for a period of time to separate formed blood components from plasma, wherein the accelerated blood component separation technique comprises centrifugation;

capturing at least a second image of formed blood component and plasma interface positions at a second time during accelerated blood component separation;

determining a sedimentation rate of the formed blood component based on at least the following: a time-related sedimentation curve and a hematocrit correction factor, wherein the time-related sedimentation curve for at least one formed blood component bin said blood sample is determined after accelerated blood component separation has begun;

using a programmable processor-controlled system to transfer at least a portion of a blood sample from a blood sample location into a centrifugation vessel;

using a sample handling system under programmable processor control to transfer said vessel from a first addressable position to a centrifuge with a second addressable position;

centrifuging the blood sample in the vessel for a period of time;

collecting at least one image of formed blood component and plasma interface position after centrifuging; and

establishing a time-related sedimentation curve based on interface position(s) in the image, for at least one formed blood component in said blood sample after centrifuging has begun.

22. A method comprising:

capturing at least a first image of formed blood component and plasma interface positions at an initial time;

using an accelerated blood component separation technique based on increased effective force on a blood sample for a period of time to separate formed blood components from plasma, wherein the accelerated blood component separation technique comprises centrifugation;

capturing at least a second image of formed blood component and plasma interface positions at a second time during accelerated blood components separation;

determining a sedimentation rate of the formed blood component based on at least the following: a time-related sedimentation curve and a hematocrit correction factor, wherein the time-related sedimentation curve for at least one formed blood component in said blood sample is determined after accelerated blood component separation has begun;

varying centrifuging speed to establishing a linear sedimentation curve of at least one formed blood component over the period of time until compacting has completed;

monitoring centrifuging speed profile for at least a portion of the time period; and

determining blood component sedimentation rate based on a centrifuging speed profile.