Horiba earns praise for platelet function test from UK hospital

Horiba has earned a positive testimony for its Plateletworks point-of-care platelet function test from the department of cardiothoracic surgery at Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital.

The hospital was able to use the test in a scientific study on antiplatelet therapy, which aimed to characterise platelet function following coronary artery bypass grafting with aspirin therapy in order to determine differences between on and off-pump surgery.

Plateletworks was used to carry out seven pre and postoperative tests over five days on 30 patients, with a quick and simple measure of platelet function required by the study.

Typically, this process is highly complex, with lab-based aggregometry being expensive, time-consuming and requiring an experienced biomedical scientist to carry out.

Enoch Akowuah, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Plateletworks proved very cost-effective and straightforward to use by members of my team near to the patient – furthermore, the technical support that Horiba provided was excellent."

Earlier this month, Horiba published a case study showcasing the benefits its ABX Pentra 80 analyser provided to the organisers of last year's London Olympic and Paralympic Games, who used the device for blood testing applications.