Researchers from the University of Tokyo have developed a new method to watch blood clotting in action—without surgery.
Using a special microscope and artificial intelligence (AI), their method tracks how platelets (the blood’s “repair cells”) clump together in people with coronary artery disease (CAD). This could lead to safer, more personalized treatments.
Platelets help stop bleeding when you get a cut, but in people with CAD, they can form harmful clots inside arteries, causing heart attacks or strokes.
“To stop dangerous clots, doctors give CAD patients antiplatelet drugs. But it’s hard to tell how well these drugs work for each person,” said Dr. Kazutoshi Hirose, lead author of the study.
To solve this problem, Hirose’s team used a high-speed microscope called a frequency-division multiplexed (FDM) microscope. It works like a super-fast camera, taking thousands of pictures of moving blood cells every second. Then AI steps in to sort these pictures—telling whether a cell is a single platelet, a clump, or even a white blood cell.
They tested blood samples from over 200 patients and found that people with more serious heart symptoms had more platelet clumps. This suggests the method can reveal real-time clotting risks.
Surprisingly, they discovered that a simple blood draw from the arm gives nearly the same information as the more invasive method of taking blood from the heart’s arteries.
“This is great news,” said Hirose. “It means doctors can get important information without risky procedures.”
The goal is to help doctors personalize treatment. Since people respond differently to antiplatelet drugs, this new test could help doctors choose the right drug and dosage.
“As small as blood cells are, they can tell a big story about your health,” said co-author Yuqi Zhou.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about root cause of heart rhythm disorders and Warning signal from the kidneys can predict future heart failure risk.
For more about heart health, please read studies about a surprising link between alcohol drinking and heart health and both blood pressure numbers can predict heart disease risk.
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