
Abstract
Background : This is a study of correlation between a blood hematocrit valueand its sinking time in oil to aid doctors in measuring ahematocrit value without the presence of a centrifuge.Objective : The objective of this project was to provide an alternative wayof measuring a hematocrit value. This method should onlyinclude materials that can be easily found in our surroundings.Measuring hematocrit is a crucial process that can helpdiagnose potentially fatal diseases such as dengue hemorrhagicfever.Design : Experimental studySetting : Siriraj Hospital, BangkokMaterials and Methods : First, we used three different salt solutions (NaCl with specificgravity of 1.03, 1.04, and 1.05) and dropped them intothe refined palm oil to see if there were visible differences inthe dropping times. After confirming the validity of theexperiment, we proceeded to real samples of blood. We used23 different blood samples in two separate experiments,varying in volumes (10 µL and 20 µL).Results : After graphing the data acquired from the experiments, wefound that there was a distinct relationship between the twovalues. The higher the hematocrit value, the less time it tookto drop down. In contrast, the lower the hematocrit value,the slower it took to drop down.Conclusion : The study found that there was a inverse relationship betweenthe hematocrit value and the sinking time of blood. Thesegraphs, tables, and data can be developed to aid doctors inobtaining a hematocrit value in places where a centrifuge isnot readily available.
Publisher
Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University
First Page
27
Last Page
34
Recommended Citation
Auewarakul, B and Promsuwicha, O.
(2014)
"Estimating hematocrit using a blood drop sinking time.Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok.,"
Chulalongkorn Medical Journal: Vol. 58:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/clmjournal/vol58/iss1/3