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Comment by justinjlynn | Hacker News Reader

With the volumes they're dealing with and the automation they tout I bet they're using integrated microfluidic chips with built in sensor technology. That's so cool and it makes sense given the time they spent in stealth mode since that's a rather new technology and getting it certified must've taken some time. Looking a patents and bingo, they have patents on microfluidic techniques. Awesome. Eventually they might have a medlab in a box -- neat.

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You appear to be interested and aware of the current state of clinical chemistry. Are you aware of any HN/Slashdot-esque sites for this pursuit? One of my main areas of hobbyist interest this year is biochemical assays and health diagnostic mechanisms, but there is a lot of chaff in my google searches.

Any pointers would be appreciated. My email is in my profile if you would like to discuss it more in depth.

The diybio mailing list has many interesting discussions: http://diybio.org/

I have looked at the DIYBio groups on a number of occasions, and while they are fascinating it their own right, they aren't quite what I am interested in. DIYBio (as far as I can tell) is considerably more interested in DNA sequencing and genetics, whereas I am more interested in diagnostic tools for improving my quality and quantity of life.

An example of something I am interested in is: http://jenslabs.com/category/electronics/ketosis-detector/

but my more general question is: how can we do everything a standard blood panel does now, except do it extremely frequently (e.g. daily or hourly or even continuously) and noninvasively or as close as is feasible.

Of course, I know very little about the field, so this might all be the equivalent of "Hey guys, I know a little HTML and I was wondering if I could build a MMORPG..." posts on gamedev, but hey, gotta start somewhere. :D

There's diagnostics for all which is working on paper based diagnostics. They are so cheap , that they target them for the third world. And they only need a blood drop.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/health/27paper.html?pagewa...

And this site also looks interesting:

http://www.mf20.org/

> "Hey guys, I know a little HTML and I was wondering if I could build a MMORPG..."

Yes... But here's one place to start (somewhat analagous to "read Accelerated C++ and the OpenGL red book"): http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Flow-Cytometry-Howard-Shapir...

Given that they are going up against massive, automated operations like those of Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics ($9B market cap each), they'll probably need this tech to keep up.

While the thumb-prick and low sample volumes are cool, in the grand scheme of patient care they are somewhat gimmicky. Until doctors request higher-frequency testing, this doesn't pinch that hard. Still cool.

The big sign that they need to be wielding novel capabilities to compete with Quest and Labcorp is the offering of their menu at half of the medicare reimbursement rate. Each of those companies run ~40% gross margins off of medicare reimbursement, so Theranos without novel tech would be running a pretty substantial loss.

Low volume samples are important in pediatrics at least (wife a Dr) At the hospital she works all of their samples are low volume already. Plus critical kids get ffrequent samples depending on the level of monitoring needed. For babies you obviously have no choice or they could become anemic. Plus not all kids like seeing a vial fill up.

Ah yea, I forgot about this application. It's definitely a good one, although for some reason Theranos isn't explicit about targeting it.

They are implicit, though, as the copy about small sample sizes is paired with a photo of a nervous child.

Have you set foot inside a Quest or Labcorp location? They are pretty terrible. Definitely a disruptable space...

Until doctors request higher-frequency testing

What about patients wanting higher-frequency testing? What if the test machine were sitting in my local drugstore, and I could go in, swipe my credit card, and have it run a test on a drop of my blood whenever I wanted to?

That's it. No doctors needed. I just chatted to my doctor siblings about this over lunch ... they shot this idea out the water on the premise that it is indeed gimmicky and they wouldn't use it to make any substantial changes to patient treatment based on their results - they'll need "more reliable" testing. I could hardly get a word in! :-)

Except, I kept on saying, maybe the service is offered directly to people - without a doctor's consult.

Hell, what do I know! Nice to see innovation in fields other than information technology though.

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