Abstract
Plasma extraction from blood is essential for diagnosis of many diseases. The critical process of plasma extraction requires removal of blood cells from whole blood. Fluid viscoelasticity promotes cell migration towards the central axis of flow due to differences in normal stress and physical properties of cells. We investigated the effects of altering fluid viscoelasticity on blood plasma extraction in a serpentine microchannel. Poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) was dissolved into blood to increase its viscoelasticity. The influences of PEO concentration, blood dilution, and flow rate on the performance of cell focusing were examined. We found that focusing performance can be significantly enhanced by adding PEO into blood. The optimal PEO concentration ranged from 100 to 200 ppm with respect to effective blood cell focusing. An optimal flow rate from 1 to 15 µL/min was determined, at least for our experimental setup. Given less than 1% haemolysis was detected at the outlets in all experimental combinations, the proposed microfluidic methodology appears suitable for applications sensitive to haemocompatibility.
Highlights
Blood is a two-phase suspension of red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), and platelets suspended in plasma
When blood samples diluted in PEO phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution flow through the serpentine channel, three forces exert on the cellular components, including an inertial lift force induced by the flow inertia [37], an elastic force caused by the viscoelastic fluid [18], and a Dean drag force resulting from the curved structure at each turn [34]
The current studylarger investigated plasma extraction in a sheathlessviscoelastic should focusblood towards the centreline, and platelets serpentine microchannel
Summary
Blood is a two-phase suspension of red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), and platelets suspended in plasma. Given the high protein content, including serum albumin, globulins, and fibrinogen, within plasma, this fluid is often separated from whole blood and used for analytical purposes, including in vitro diagnostics. Namely centrifugal separation and membrane filtration, have become standard practice over the last century. The centrifugal technique is widely used in biological labs, such a device is bulky and involves a batch-based separation technique, it is limited for integration with other units to form a fully automated system for point of care diagnosis. Inappropriate centrifugation, despite the low likelihood, may cause haemolysis of RBCs, leading to contamination risks and misdiagnosis due to handling errors [1]. Membrane filtration technique has finer structural details, but clogging and fouling issues inherent in this mode severely deteriorate filtration performance, especially for samples with high cellular content [2]
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