A detection device for detecting a blood count parameter in a blood vessel, comprising a transmitter having a number of transmit antennas for transmitting at least one transmit signal, a receiver having a number of receive antennas for receiving at least one receive signal, a processor to select a detection configuration comprising one of the transmit antennas and one of the receive antennas and select a second detection configuration comprising one of the transmit antennas and one of the receive antennas, and a loss detector that is designed, when the first detection configuration is selected to transmit a transmit signal, to detect a first loss value on the basis of the transmit signal and a receive signal, and, when the second detection configuration is selected to transmit a transmit signal, detect a second loss value on the basis of the transmit signal and a receive signal. The processor is designed to select the detection configuration having the lower loss value to detect the blood count parameter.