Why does the differential make a difference?
AAD’s new technology uses florescent imaging to identify three important types of white blood cells and the prevalence of each. This differential inflammatory cell count makes detection faster, earlier and more reliable because it’s based on the body’s immune response. Each cell type in the differential plays a special role in fighting infection:
- Lymphocytes are the advance scouts that detect problems and summon immune cell warriors,
- Neutrophils are the shock troops that flood an infected area to fight the infection, and
- Macrophages scavenge the ‘infection battlefield’ to clean up after the infection.
SCC counts all of the cells in milk, but it doesn’t give more than a total count. It doesn’t differentiate between epithelial, or common body cells, and these three types that fight infection.
But by looking at the relationship between the number of these cell types, AAD’s new technology can tell if the body is fighting an infection, even a very early-stage infection, This is how it identifies subclinical mastitis, even in colostrum. This information can also be used to estimate the stage of infection and likelihood of self-curing.
