Authors:
I. Gonçalves
1
;
2
;
J. M. Varelas
1
;
G. Coutinho
1
;
A. S. Moita
1
;
3
;
D. Pinho
2
;
4
;
5
;
R. Lima
2
;
6
;
J. M. Miranda
6
;
E. J. Veja
7
;
J. M. Montanaro
7
and
A. S. Moreira
1
Affiliations:
1
IN+ - Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa. Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
;
2
Metrics, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058, Guimarães, Portugal
;
3
CINAMIL – Military Academy Research Center, Department of Exact Sciences and Engineering, Portuguese Military Academy, R. Gomes Freire, 203, 1169‑203 Lisbon, Portugal
;
4
Center for MicroElectromechanical Systems (CMEMS‐UMinho), University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, Guimarães, 4800‐058 Portugal
;
5
Present Address: INL, International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Av. Mestre José Veiga, 4715‑330 Braga, Portugal
;
6
CEFT, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (FEUP), R. Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200‑465 Porto, Portugal
;
7
Depto. de Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de los Materiales and Instituto de Computación Científica Avanzada (ICCAEx), Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Keyword(s):
Blood Analogue Fluid, Fluid Characterization, Surfactant Concentration, Microcirculation, Microfluidics.
Abstract:
This study proposes a simple, stable and low cost 2-phase blood analogue fluid, which can mimic multiphase phenomena of real flow in microcirculation. This analogue fluid is mainly composed of Brij L4 surfactant suspended in pure water. The analogue fluid is compared with real blood, both in terms of thermophysical properties as well as in terms of its dynamic fluid flow behaviour, for different concentrations of the surfactant. The results on the particle size distribution confirm the reproducibility of the fluid preparation, as well as of its stability. The analogue fluid density is close to that of water, thus approaching the blood density. As for the rheology, the blood analogue fluid depicts a shear thinning behaviour, matching that of blood, except for very high Brij L4 concentrations. Fluid flow experiments show that the blood analogue can generate cell-free layers (CFL), with thickness close to that of real blood, which corroborates that the proposed analogue is able to mimic
blood flow phenomena in microvessels. Increasing the surfactant concentration promotes the augmentation of the CFL’s, but also endorses agglomeration and clogging. Flow separation occurs also at the highest surfactant concentrations, which makes more difficult for the particles to follow the flow, so that flow field evaluation becomes more problematic.
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