I recently got a blood test and it has a few dozen values on it which had me thinking how they’re all individually measured?
Liver values like Bilirubin or Vitamins or even hormones. Any explanation for what the particular process involves?
In: 10
They mix the sample with some chemical, that a) reacts with the tested substance and b) produce some detectable effect (usually – changing color). Then they measure that change in color: either manually (lab worker compares it with a paper that have all possible colors and its meanings), or automatically (light is shined through a mixture and a light sensor measures it).
When testing for multiple values, there are three ways:
1. Separate the sample into different parts, one part for one test. Low tech, reliable, but requires a lot of blood for sample
2. Run all the tests in one vial. Requires specifically picked test reagents, that play nice with each other and a good measuring equipment (manual eyeballing is out of question)
3. Some combination of the above. The sample is separated into parts, each part for few tests.
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