White Blood Cell (WBC) counting is both widespread and inconvenient. It is also one of the first line tests used to guide therapy in thousands of medically relevant conditions, ranging from the adjustment of chemotherapy in cancer to the detection of life threatening infections. This test currently requires a blood sample and significant laboratory infrastructure. It is costly for the healthcare system and burdensome for the patient to travel to a healthcare center.

Every year in the US, 650,000 cancer patients are treated with chemotherapy. As a side effect, their neutrophil counts (the number of white blood cells that aid in fighting infections) fall to low levels (referred to as neutropenia). 20% of chemotherapy patients develop an infection while severely immunosuppressed, a life-threatening condition leading to a hospitalizations averaging 9 days in stay, $25,000 in cost per case and 7% in mortality. If doctors could identify exactly when patients become immunosuppressed, medications could be prescribed to reduce the risk of infection. However, current testing methods require travel to healthcare centers, inherently limiting their frequency and leaving patients and doctors in the dark.

We are motivated to overcome this limitation with PointCheck, a noninvasive neutrophil test that can be used frequently in local health centers or at home, enabling physicians to minimize infections, personalize chemotherapy planning, reduce healthcare costs, and save lives.