| abstract |
An apparatus and method for determining the presence of an intraerythrocytic organism within a sample of liquid whole blood is provided. The method includes the steps of a) creating an image of the sample quiescently residing within a sample chamber; b) evaluating the image for the presence of at least one red blood cell within the image containing at least one first region of decreased hemoglobin content and/or hemoglobin concentration within the red blood cell, which red blood cell has an otherwise homogenous distribution of hemoglobin; and c) determining the presence of an intraerythrocytic organism within the sample using the evaluation of the image. |