Feb 13, 2023

Life-saving Israeli blood test device sent to quake-struck Turkey Innovative device from Sight Diagnostics requires only two drops of blood, and can deliver results in 10 minutes, to quickly assess severity of injuries and increase survival rates. An aerial view of the staging area of the Israeli army and Israeli rescue forces near the scene of the deadly earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, on February 9, 2023. Photo by Erik Marmor/Flash90 An innovative Israeli-made device that can speed up blood test diagnosis to improve treatment in the field is in use in Israel’s field hospital in Turkey as the country struggles to cope with the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes. Israeli teams are among many international representatives working to find survivors after two disastrous earthquakes and a series of aftershocks hit Turkey and neighboring Syria, killing more than 33,000 people. Now, Sight Diagnostics’ OLO device is set to help the Israeli rescuers working on the ground to accurately diagnose the general condition of survivors and speed up the provision of appropriate medical treatment to increase the chances of survival. Testing on the ground would allow medical authorities to quickly assess the severity of the injuries, such as internal bleeding, infection, damage to vital organs or any other life-threatening conditions. The OLO analyzer, which is based on AI algorithms, requires only two drops of blood to perform a complete blood count and can deliver test results in the span of 10 minutes. The OLO analyzer can give complete blood results in just 10 minutes. Photo courtesy of Sight Diagnostics The company said OLO’s compact size, roughly the size of a home desktop printer, makes it suitable for use in a wide variety of remote environments, beyond the central laboratory. Sight Diagnostics said the IDF Medical Corps approached the Israeli company, asking it to provide the device to the IDF field hospital located in the disaster area. So far, two devices and hundreds of test kits have been sent to Turkey, with each kit able to analyze a single blood test. “Sight Diagnostics’ mission is to provide better care when and where it is needed by bringing fast and convenient blood diagnostics to the point of care without compromising on accuracy,” said Doron Birger, Interim CEO & Chairman of the Board at Sight Diagnostics. “As much as we wish these situations won’t happen, we are honored to have a small but significant contribution to providing better care to the disaster survivors in Turkey,” he added. The device is also approved for use in the United States by the FDA, where it was cleared for “moderately complex setting.” Sight Diagnostics made headlines two years ago, when it was deployed at John Radcliffe Hospital, part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation. It allowed staff at the hospital’s emergency departments to determine the likelihood of patients having COVID-19, when the UK was battling the onset of one of its many coronavirus waves. Sight Diagnostics was founded in 2011, and has offices in Israel, the US and the UK. The company’s first product, Parasight ,  was used to diagnose malaria in over 24 countries across the globe. ADVERTISEMENT