4 ms·

I'm a bit curious since I haven't had the time to read up on this whole case. From what I understand, they have used fraudulent tests and pushing guesswork as s

I'm a bit curious since I haven't had the time to read up on this whole case. From what I understand, they have used fraudulent tests and pushing guesswork as scientific results? Yes? But I'm also a bit curious as to the idea itself - could a healthcare-company actually provide this service at the said price with the right staff and technology, or is it simply an overly optimistic setup?

petra 10y ago
In theory lab on chip testing may reduce costs greatly, yes. The harder(or maybe impossible) part is collecting clean samples from the fingertip. But maybe theranos will pivot to collect blood via veins, at least for now ? That of course will reduce their valuation greatly(because people hate vein-puncture, so no frequent blood testing scenarios), but the cheap price could be very valuable to third world countries. But again, that's just theory.
- sandGorgon 10y ago
  Umm.. How much do you think a blood test costs in India? http://m.upto75.com/Thyrocare/m/6693/Sale_Offer.html http://m.upto75.com/Thyrocare/m/6693/Sale_Offer.html is a set of 32 tests that costs roughly 14$ . and this is the most expensive company there is. The only tech that could make this better is fingertip testing.
  - pkaye 10y ago
    You can get something similar for around $50 in the US also by directly going to the labs.
  - vixen99 10y ago
    Romania: set of basic tests for equivalent of $20. In Britain it's free if your doctor orders it else it seems to be much pricier. Incidentally I noticed that https://www.medichecks.com/ https://www.medichecks.com/ offer " Finger-prick - comprehensive entry-level health screen" analysis for $142. Someone should investigate!
  - petra 10y ago
    You couldn't probably get complex antibody based tests for such prices. And i've read research about labs-on-chip(theranos like tech) with a price of much less than a cent, per test and it should apply to antibodies.
- mbreese 10y ago
  It isn't the cleanliness of samples from the fingertip that is the issue, it's the consistency of the samples. The volume of blood that you get from a finger prick is just too small to get consistent results for the majority of tests.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
frozenport 10y ago
Not with traditional markers, for example many wbc assays require 100+ cells, which is unlikely in a small drop of blood.
- imaginenore 10y ago
  There are around 5 billion red blood cells per ml of blood, and 4 to 11 million white blood cells per ml.
  - frozenport 10y ago
    Typically blood smears contain a much smaller number (100s).
    - imaginenore 10y ago
      We're talking multiple drops of blood from the finger. An average drop is around 50 microliters. There's absolutely no way you end up with just hundreds of cells.
      - frozenport 10y ago
        Except that's that's what I see when I make a buffy coated slide. There are even protocols when you get too few cells, see https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.austincc.edu/mlt/hem/hem_Lab_Counting%2520to%2520100_Fa15.doc&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjWsKvIodXMAhWCbj4KHdJmDo8QFggPMAE&usg=AFQjCNERR97lteYekmEaVNEo85f0LcuLUg https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.austincc.edu/mlt/hem...
w1ntermute 10y ago
See Theranos and the Blood-Testing Delusion[0] for why it isn't feasible. 0: http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-04-27/theranos-and-the-blood-testing-delusion http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-04-27/theranos-a...
- petra 10y ago
  That's a pretty bad article, mixing the question of accurately measuring blood components, with the question of interpretation.

petra 10y ago

In theory lab on chip testing may reduce costs greatly, yes. The harder(or maybe impossible) part is collecting clean samples from the fingertip. But maybe theranos will pivot to collect blood via veins, at least for now ? That of course will reduce their valuation greatly(because people hate vein-puncture, so no frequent blood testing scenarios), but the cheap price could be very valuable to third world countries. But again, that's just theory.

sandGorgon 10y ago
Umm.. How much do you think a blood test costs in India? http://m.upto75.com/Thyrocare/m/6693/Sale_Offer.html http://m.upto75.com/Thyrocare/m/6693/Sale_Offer.html is a set of 32 tests that costs roughly 14$ . and this is the most expensive company there is. The only tech that could make this better is fingertip testing.
- pkaye 10y ago
  You can get something similar for around $50 in the US also by directly going to the labs.
- vixen99 10y ago
  Romania: set of basic tests for equivalent of $20. In Britain it's free if your doctor orders it else it seems to be much pricier. Incidentally I noticed that https://www.medichecks.com/ https://www.medichecks.com/ offer " Finger-prick - comprehensive entry-level health screen" analysis for $142. Someone should investigate!
- petra 10y ago
  You couldn't probably get complex antibody based tests for such prices. And i've read research about labs-on-chip(theranos like tech) with a price of much less than a cent, per test and it should apply to antibodies.
mbreese 10y ago
It isn't the cleanliness of samples from the fingertip that is the issue, it's the consistency of the samples. The volume of blood that you get from a finger prick is just too small to get consistent results for the majority of tests.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

frozenport 10y ago

Not with traditional markers, for example many wbc assays require 100+ cells, which is unlikely in a small drop of blood.

imaginenore 10y ago
There are around 5 billion red blood cells per ml of blood, and 4 to 11 million white blood cells per ml.
- frozenport 10y ago
  Typically blood smears contain a much smaller number (100s).
  - imaginenore 10y ago
    We're talking multiple drops of blood from the finger. An average drop is around 50 microliters. There's absolutely no way you end up with just hundreds of cells.
    - frozenport 10y ago
      Except that's that's what I see when I make a buffy coated slide. There are even protocols when you get too few cells, see https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.austincc.edu/mlt/hem/hem_Lab_Counting%2520to%2520100_Fa15.doc&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjWsKvIodXMAhWCbj4KHdJmDo8QFggPMAE&usg=AFQjCNERR97lteYekmEaVNEo85f0LcuLUg https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.austincc.edu/mlt/hem...

w1ntermute 10y ago

See Theranos and the Blood-Testing Delusion[0] for why it isn't feasible. 0: http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-04-27/theranos-and-the-blood-testing-delusion http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-04-27/theranos-a...

petra 10y ago
That's a pretty bad article, mixing the question of accurately measuring blood components, with the question of interpretation.