{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,26]],"date-time":"2026-09-26T03:50:54Z","timestamp":1790394654446,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,21]],"date-time":"2020-07-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1595289600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010198","name":"Ministerio de Econom\u00eda, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de Espa\u00f1a","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DPI2017-89414-R"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DPI2017-89414-R"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010198","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hemoglobinopathies represent the most common single-gene defects in the world and pose a major public health problem, particularly in tropical countries, where they occur with high frequency. Diagnosing hemoglobinopathies can sometimes be difficult due to the coexistence of different causes of anemia, such as thalassemia and iron deficiency, and blood transfusions, among other factors, and requires expensive and complex molecular tests. This work explores the possibility of using spectral confocal microscopy as a diagnostic tool for thalassemia in pediatric patients, a disease caused by mutations in the globin genes that result in changes of the globin chains that form hemoglobin\u2014in pediatric patients. Red blood cells (RBCs) from patients with different syndromes of alpha-thalassemia and iron deficiency (including anemia) as well as healthy (control) subjects were analyzed under a Leica TCS SP8 confocal microscope following different image acquisition protocols. We found that diseased RBCs exhibited autofluorescence when excited at 405 nm and their emission was collected in the spectral range from 425 nm to 790 nm. Three experimental descriptors calculated from the mean emission intensities at 502 nm, 579 nm, 628 nm, and 649 nm allowed us to discriminate between diseased and healthy cells. According to the results obtained, spectral confocal microscopy could serve as a tool in the diagnosis of thalassemia.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s20144039","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,21]],"date-time":"2020-07-21T06:38:55Z","timestamp":1595313535000},"page":"4039","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Spectroscopic Evaluation of Red Blood Cells of Thalassemia Patients with Confocal Microscopy: A Pilot Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Laura","family":"Rey-Barroso","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Sensors, Instruments and Systems Development, Technical University of Catalonia, 08222 Terrassa, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"M\u00f3nica","family":"Rold\u00e1n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Confocal Microscopy, Service of Pathological Anatomy, Pediatric Institute of Rare Diseases, Hospital Sant Joan de D\u00e9u, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain"},{"name":"Institute of Pediatric Research, Hospital Sant Joan de D\u00e9u, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3749-6850","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco J.","family":"Burgos-Fern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Sensors, Instruments and Systems Development, Technical University of Catalonia, 08222 Terrassa, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5506-0244","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susanna","family":"Gassiot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Pediatric Research, Hospital Sant Joan de D\u00e9u, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain"},{"name":"Laboratory of Hematology, Service of Laboratory Diagnosis, Hospital Sant Joan de D\u00e9u, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Ruiz Llobet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Service of Pediatric Hematology, Hospital Sant Joan de D\u00e9u, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ignacio","family":"Isola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Pediatric Research, Hospital Sant Joan de D\u00e9u, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain"},{"name":"Laboratory of Hematology, Service of Laboratory Diagnosis, Hospital Sant Joan de D\u00e9u, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8166-1617","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Meritxell","family":"Vilaseca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Sensors, Instruments and Systems Development, Technical University of Catalonia, 08222 Terrassa, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1007\/s12013-009-9056-5","article-title":"Biophysical characterization of \u03b2-thalassemic red blood cells","volume":"55","author":"Desouky","year":"2009","journal-title":"Cell Biochem. 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