Hematology is another of the main branches of medicine laboratory. This sector deals with the study of blood. This implies quantification of red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells with relative differentiation for the various subclasses of leukocytes. It also covers the blood typing, the quantification of Hb, the division into classes of Hb itself and the microscopic observation of the slide.
As for the quantification of the corpuscular part of blood, it is carried out through automatic equipment able to lyse the red blood cells through the use of solutions of specific work and to stack the cells so as to allow them to pass in an orderly manner through an optical reader. This radius will undergo phenomena of refraction and reflection depending on the type of cell. The same instrument can also quantify the hemoglobin.
The typing of the group is carried out using a few drops of antiserum on the blood so as to take place agglutination and precipitation of the red blood cells.
The microscope observation, with eventual coloration of the sample, allows to observe a number of abnormal blood cells or particular forms or presence of bacteria or viruses.
In this way it is possible to diagnose various types of thalassemias, deficiencies leukocyte or red blood cells, viral or bacterial infections and in the worst cases phenomena of cancer.