The Relative Frequency of Sparse Cell Elements -- An Application to Reticulocyte Blood Counts
Marvin A. Schneiderman, George Brecher · Biometrics · 1950
THE PROBLEM of determining the relative frequency of sparse elements frequently arises in making blood counts. For example, reticulocytes in normal humans comprise about 1% of the total red cells in the blood. With certain types of anemia this percentage rises considerably. The current, standard method for making reticulocyte counts involves counting 1000 red cells, and noting the number of reticulocytes among the 1000. This is a relatively time-consuming technique, and to reduce the work involved another technique has been suggested. The new technique, which we call the Miller technique, involves using an ocular disc which is divided into two areas, as in figure 1, below.