The authors are employed by and receive compensation from a company that is involved in the development and validation of droplet digital PCR and quantitative PCR methods. This company also provided funding for the QX200 Droplet Digital PCR system (Bio-Rad, CA, USA), the HemaVet 950FS Hematological Analyzer (Drew Scientific, FL, USA) and all materials and reagents required for the performance of droplet digital PCR and hematological analysis. However, the views and conclusions presented in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the company. The authors declare no advisory positions, board memberships or patent holdings that are related to the topic of this article or that would compromise the integrity or impartiality of this work. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.