DEVELOPMENT OF A BLOOD ANALOG FOR THE HEMODYNAMIC EFFICIENCY EVALUATION OF CARDIOVASCULAR DEVICES

Accurate simulation of blood hemolytic potential (i.e. the destruction of red blood cells) would be a valuable tool to evaluate blood-interacting devices. Indeed, such a model would alleviate several practical problems with manipulating real blood (addition of anticoagulants and antibiotics, filtration, etc.). In the present study, we have developed a blood analog which is a suspension of micron-sized natural polymeric gel particles, each encapsulating a dye agent. These particles release the dye agent through shear-induced diffusion and fragmentation from exposure to high, non-physiological shear rates. A controlled shear field was applied to blood analog samples using a custom-made grooved parallel plate geometry device as previously reported in the literature. The device was designed to apply a shear stress and shear exposure duration in the range of 0.15 – 269.18 Pa and 156- 1297 ms, respectively. From the results obtained, a correlation between the human index of hemolysis and the concentration of the released dye agent can be found. Therefore, the use of the proposed suspensions appears suitable as a blood analog for the in vitro evaluation of the destructive effects of cardiovascular devices