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University of Hawaii medical technologist Dick Y. Teshima says his patent is "really not that big a deal." Firms interested in
UH staffer’s inventionBy Helen Altonn
Star-BulletinBut biomedical research companies have expressed a lot of interest in his "Blood Smearing Cassette," says Ann Park, with the UH Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development.
The John A. Burns School of Medicine scientist invented a small hand-held tool to help prepare blood smears for hematological studies.
A good blood smear is essential to diagnose many anemias, leukemias, infection, congenital abnormalities and other medical problems, Teshima said.
Clinical laboratory scientists or technicians are trained to hold two microscope slides at specific angles.
However, medical laboratories often hire inexperienced people who are trained on the job to do simple procedures, Teshima said.
"Making blood smears is a skill a laboratory has to learn. Sometimes it takes awhile for a person to learn that."
The difficulty, he said, is to hold the two slides steadily while spreading the blood sample.
Teshima, who has a master's degree in public health from the UH, was working in the laboratory in 1997 when he decided there was a simpler way for an unskilled person to take a blood smear.
He developed a cassette that holds the two slides at exact angles so inexperienced workers can prepare smears accurately, which frees laboratory scientists and technicians for more complex analysis work.
Teshima said he produced several designs and prototype models before the current model was tested and patented.
A local company has made several working models that have been distributed to interested companies, Park said.
She said Teshima's patent is one of a total 90 U.S. patents awarded to UH faculty members.
Ka Leo O Hawaii
University of Hawaii
