Scalable evaluation of platelet aggregation by the degree of blood migration

Abstract

Platelet aggregation plays a key role in vascular thrombosis. Antiplatelet drug therapy is commonly used for the prevention of abnormal platelet aggregation. So, measuring platelet aggregation function is critically important in clinical field. Here, we introduce a scalable evaluation method of platelet aggregation measured with the degree of blood migration through microchannel in a microfluidic chip. Unlike conventional methods that require expertise with system physics to operate devices, our approach is using microfluidics system, which requires only a syringe vacuum. The scalable migration factors, migration distance and touchdown time, are capable of distinguishing various antiplatelet drug effects under microfluidics and would be effective for the quick and easy evaluation of quantitative platelet aggregation. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.