Abstract/Summary

Measuring blood and platelet function is vital for the development and use of drugs that combat cardiovascular disease, such as anti-platelet drugs and other medicines that reduce the risk of thrombosis. We propose combining mass-produced microfluidic devices with open-source robotic instrumentation to enable development of affordable and portable, yet high-throughput and high-performance haematological testing. A time- and distance-resolved fluid flow analysis by Raspberry Pi imaging integrated with controlled sample addition and illumination, enables simultaneous tracking of capillary rise in 120 individual capillaries within 5minutes. We showed that time-resolved microcapillary rise imaging permits blood function measurement by measuring thrombin-triggered activation of global haemostasis. Thrombin stimulation slowed vertical fluid velocity, consistent with a dynamic increase in viscosity. Microfluidic systems expand haematological testing towards high-efficiency, multi-parameter blood analysis necessary for understanding and improving cardiovascular health.