Abstract/Summary

Cardiovascular health and disease have a significant impact on platelet function. Large-scale epidemiology studies are critical to understanding the role of platelets and linking them to cardiovascular health and disease. Traditional platelet function tests require special laboratory conditions and equipment, are often time-consuming and costly, limiting their use in epidemiological studies. In this study, we aimed to overcome these limits and develop cheap, rapid and easy-to-use tests by using microcapillary technologies. Microcapillary film strips, with their multiple channels and high optical transparency, offer low cost, speed and portability for large-scale studies in platelet function testing, allowing more participants to be tested and comprehensive data to be obtained. For this purpose, microfluidic imaging devices integrated with Raspberry Pi and Pi camera systems were developed. Testing methods with microfluidic systems have taken an important step forward in understanding cardiovascular health by providing dynamic measurements of blood function. Time- and distance-resolved robotic imaging of fluid flow in vertical microfluidic strips revealed that analysing capillary rise over time provides quantitative information on fluid properties and that thrombin stimulation dynamically increases blood viscosity. Adding loops to these vertical strips improved the rapid assay reading time, enabling changes in blood flow characteristics to be detected more effectively. Additionally, platelet aggregation detection in microcapillaries has become possible with the developed low-cost and simple dark-field imaging techniques. Through smaller pilot studies to explore key parameters in preparation for larger scale epidemiological studies, the necessary feasibility information was obtained. In conclusion, microfluidic devices offer significant advantages in large-scale epidemiological studies of cardiovascular health and disease by reducing sample volume and analysis times, combined with the simplicity and low cost of microcapillary testing. This technology can allow more participants to be tested in platelet function tests, enabling more detailed examination of the relationships between platelet function and specific health outcomes.