Paper that Spells Out Blood Groups

Inspired by self-writing diary in one of the Harry Potter’s books, Australian scientists have created a paper to spell out a person’s blood group. The sensor can help non-experts to learn more about the results easily. It would be of great help during situations of emergency such as humanitarian disaster.

The device was developed by a team of researchers from Monash University of Australia. It writes the blood group of the person in text. Based on the ABO system, the device can distinguish between the various blood samples, i.e. between A, B, AB or O types, along with the ability to spell whether the blood group is Rhesus positive or negative.

The system indicates A or B as blood groups which showing presence of antigens in the red blood cells. This would make it very convenient for people who conduct blood tests at home and are prone to make mistakes in the same. Mistake in interpreting the result of blood test has serious consequences, according to lead researcher Wei Shen from the Monash University.

The ease in interpreting the results of the blood test is an important development given the fact that most people are unable to recognise the result from the usual blood typing assay, according to the researchers. They also conducted a test to see how many could interpret the result and they found that only 20 percent could.

The scenarios where this blood type stating paper could be very helpful are battlefield and automobile accident, according to John Brennan Canada Research Chair. When the researchers of Monash University compared the accuracy of their blood testing method with those used all over the world, they found that their method was not only cheaper but also faster and simpler to use. According to Shen, these features make it very helpful for people in developing countries.