Aptos High School Global Health Odyssey
Health Professionals Use Math for Problem Solving
Medical Lab Technician 4
A patient has been diagnosed with anemia. Anemia comes from a lack of hemoglobin in the blood, which helps keep red blood cells round. One of the characteristics in the diagnosis is deflated cells, which measure a smaller volume.
If we count the cells, and can seperate the cell solids from the liquid, we can calculate the volume and find out what kind of anemia this patient has.
There are many standard formulas used in lab work. The one we need here is:
But since we need to use this to find the Mean Cell Volume, we must turn the equation around to solve for MCV.
Find MCV in terms of the other variables in this equation.