Examination of Acid-Fast Bacilli in Sputum Using Modified Light Microscope with Homemade Light Emitting Diode Additional Attachment

Typical clinical symptoms and chest X-ray is a marker of Tuberculosis (TB) sufferers. However, the diagnosis of TB in adults should be supported by microscopic examination. Currently, Bacilli microscopic examination of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in sputum by Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) coloring is the most widely used. However, for reasons of convenience, especially for laboratories with a considerable amount of smear samples, and due to higher sensitivity compared with ZN staining, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of auramine-O-staining (fluorochrome  staining), which is visualized by light emitting diode (LED) fluorescence microscopy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of modified light microscope with homemade LED additional attachment for examination of AFB in sputum using auramine-O-staining method. We compared the sensitivity and specificity of 2 kinds of AFB in sputum methods: ZN and fluorochrome, using culture on Lowenstein-Jensen media as the gold standard. The results showed auramine-O-staining gives more proportion of positive findings (81%) compared to the ZN method (70%). These results demonstrated that the sensitivity of auramine-O-staining was higher than ZN, however it gives more potential false positive results than ZN. The sensitivity of auramine-O-staining in detecting AFB in sputum was 100% while the specificity was 88%

A Simple Photometer as a Helping Device in Measuring Blood Glucose

Measurement of non-invasive blood glucose is one way to increase the frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). For NIR reflectance spectroscopy, its application in non-invasive constrained by high value of standard error of prediction. The mean standard error of prediction was 25 mg/dL. Theoretically, NIR reflectance spectroscopy still can be used to predict blood glucose levels in certain conditions such as hypoglycemia (<55 mg/dL), controlled fasting blood glucose (FBG) (70-115 mg/dL), and hyperglycemia (>225 mg/dL), which the difference between the three conditions is more than 25 mg/dL. The results showed that there are significant differences in standards values of photometer measurement between controlled FBG and hyperglycemic conditions (P = 0.002). The results also showed that the photometer can be used to assist the monitoring of blood glucose in FBG under control and hyperglycemic conditions. It can be seen from the average percentage of the daily controlled FBG conditions in patients conducting SMBG in photometer-assisted compared to in patients only use SMBG once a day (28% versus 18%, P = 0.344)

Examination of Acid-Fast Bacilli in Sputum using Modified Light Microscope with Homemade Light Emitting Diode Additional Attachment

Typical clinical symptoms and chest X-ray is a marker of Tuberculosis (TB) sufferers. However, the diagnosis of TB in adults should be supported by microscopic examination. Currently, Bacilli microscopic examination of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in sputum by Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) coloring is the most widely used. However, for reasons of convenience, especially for laboratories with a considerable amount of smear samples, and due to higher sensitivity compared with ZN staining, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of auramine-O-staining (fluorochrome  staining), which is visualized by light emitting diode (LED) fluorescence microscopy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of modified light microscope with homemade LED additional attachment for examination of AFB in sputum using auramine-O-staining method. We compared the sensitivity and specificity of 2 kinds of AFB in sputum methods: ZN and fluorochrome, using culture on Lowenstein-Jensen media as the gold standard. The results showed auramine-O-staining gives more proportion of positive findings (81%) compared to the ZN method (70%). These results demonstrated that the sensitivity of auramine-O-staining was higher than ZN, however it gives more potential false positive results than ZN. The sensitivity of auramine-O-staining in detecting AFB in sputum was 100% while the specificity was 88%

A Simple Photometer as a Helping Device in Measuring Blood Glucose

Measurement of non-invasive blood glucose is one way to increase the frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). For NIR reflectance spectroscopy, its application in non-invasive constrained by high value of standard error of prediction. The mean standard error of prediction was 25 mg/dL. Theoretically, NIR reflectance spectroscopy still can be used to predict blood glucose levels in certain conditions such as hypoglycemia (<55 mg/dL), controlled fasting blood glucose (FBG) (70-115 mg/dL), and hyperglycemia (>225 mg/dL), which the difference between the three conditions is more than 25 mg/dL. The results showed that there are significant differences in standards values of photometer measurement between controlled FBG and hyperglycemic conditions (P = 0.002). The results also showed that the photometer can be used to assist the monitoring of blood glucose in FBG under control and hyperglycemic conditions. It can be seen from the average percentage of the daily controlled FBG conditions in patients conducting SMBG in photometer-assisted compared to in patients only use SMBG once a day (28% versus 18%, P = 0.344)

A Simple Photometer as a Helping Device in Measuring Blood Glucose

Measurement of non-invasive blood glucose is one way to increase the frequency of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). For NIR reflectance spectroscopy, its application in non-invasive constrained by high value of standard error of prediction. The mean standard error of prediction was 25 mg/dL. Theoretically, NIR reflectance spectroscopy still can be used to predict blood glucose levels in certain conditions such as hypoglycemia (<55 mg/dL), controlled fasting blood glucose (FBG) (70-115 mg/dL), and hyperglycemia (>225 mg/dL), which the difference between the three conditions is more than 25 mg/dL. The results showed that there are significant differences in standards values of photometer measurement between controlled FBG and hyperglycemic conditions (P = 0.002). The results also showed that the photometer can be used to assist the monitoring of blood glucose in FBG under control and hyperglycemic conditions. It can be seen from the average percentage of the daily controlled FBG conditions in patients conducting SMBG in photometer-assisted compared to in patients only use SMBG once a day (28% versus 18%, P = 0.344)