Eosinophilic leukocytes and respiratory illnesses: HemoScreen as support in modern pulmonology

The cold season brings with it not only cool temperatures but also a number of respiratory illnesses. Symptoms such as coughing and sniffles cause many patients to wonder: Is this a viral or a bacterial infection? Or is there perhaps a chronic disease behind it, such as asthma, that is triggered by a weakened immune defence?

Innovative diagnostic tools such as HemoScreen come into play here. Particularly for pulmonologists, this analyser could be a real game-changer, because the fast and precise measurement of eosinophilic leukocytes is becoming more and more important – especially in connection with modern therapies and drugs.

Against this backdrop, we would like to explore the topic in more depth and examine the opportunities and challenges of HemoScreen in pulmonology. For this reason, we asked our product expert Barbara Herzog a few questions.

How would you assess the significance of eosinophilic leukocytes for pulmonology, particularly with regard to a differential diagnosis in respiratory illnesses?

Eosinophilic leukocytes have become more important in recent years, particularly also in pulmonology practice. Especially in the case of eosinophilic asthma, which is the most common asthma subtype, a significantly improved quality of life can be achieved for these patients through the determination of eosinophilic leukocytes and the associated therapeutic adjustment. In view of the fact that asthma is a chronic condition, this should by no means be ignored.

Pulmonologists traditionally rarely measure haemograms. What do you consider to be the barriers to the introduction of the HemoScreen in pulmonology practices and how can they be overcome?

Pulmonologists traditionally perform few blood tests, and adapting established procedures when new technologies are introduced is often a challenge – particularly under present-day time constraints. Our support team therefore provides comprehensive support to customers: from installation to integration into the daily office routine and beyond. We make sure that every customer feels comfortable and can use the device optimally – including over the long term.

The HemoScreen provides results in just 5 minutes. In which situations do you see the biggest advantage of this speed, for example, in comparison to conventional laboratory tests? Are there other advantages to the HemoScreen?

The HemoScreen provides results while the patient is still in the medical practice. Thanks to the practical unit-use cartridge, no complex specimen preparation or system cleaning is necessary – the device is switched on simply as needed. The intuitive handling makes it ideal for medical practices that only perform few analyses, and it greatly reduces the amount of time and organisation needed.

In your opinion, how could HemoScreen affect operational methods and diagnosis in pulmonology practices over the long term? Could this lead to haemograms becoming a standard procedure in pulmonology?

Point-of-care testing make sense wherever it is used in a targeted and efficient manner. For private-practice pulmonologists who do not regularly perform laboratory diagnostics, the HemoScreen offers a clear advantage – particularly in the monitoring and use of special therapies that can improve patients’ quality of life. Behind every laboratory result is a person with his or her individual history. Using adapted laboratory diagnostics to help optimise the care of these patients and enable them to have a better quality of life would be a huge success for us. In addition, rapid access to laboratory values and the reduction of complex processes means that costs can be saved. I cannot assess whether the haemogram will become a standard procedure in pulmonology, but I would like to see that happen – for the benefit of patients.