Michigan Tech spinoff's device screens would-be donors' blood — before donation

Tom Henderson - MicroDevice Engineering Inc., a spinoff from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, is aiming to market a battery-operated device to help blood donation centers determine blood type and screen for diseases and anemia in the blood of would-be donors. Such a device, whose patent is pending, would eliminate waste and speed up the donation process. It would eliminate, for example, the donation of blood that has been contaminated by disease, such as hepatitis. Instead of taking contaminated