Breaking: PolyBio-supported researchers at MGH/Harvard have developed a microfluidic device that quantitatively measures fibrinaloid clots (microclots): tiny, abnormal clumps in the blood that may play a key role in the biology of Long COVID: polybio.org/new-microfluid…
2/ The new device technology enables rapid standardized quantification (counting) of microclot burden from small blood samples.
3/ In a cohort of 45 pediatric #LongCovid patients and 14 healthy children, researchers found significantly higher microclot levels in LongCovid samples. The device demonstrated a 94% diagnostic accuracy, compared to just 66% for standard slide-based microclot counting.
4/ Notably, the highest microclot counts were observed in patients with detectable SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in their blood, suggesting an association between viral persistence and microclot burden.
5/ “This is a helpful advance to standardize the quantitative measurement of microclot burden,” says study team member Dr. Michael VanElzakker. “It could improve how we screen for and monitor LongCovid—especially in children, where symptoms are often overlooked or misattributed.”
6/ The team plans to expand testing to larger populations and to evaluate the assay’s potential as a diagnostic screening test and treatment-response biomarker for LongCovid and related infection-associated chronic illnesses.
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