Open Access
21 June 2017 Assessment of the “cross-bridge”-induced interaction of red blood cells by optical trapping combined with microfluidics
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Abstract
Red blood cell (RBC) aggregation is an intrinsic property of the blood that has a direct effect on the blood viscosity and circulation. Nevertheless, the mechanism behind the RBC aggregation has not been confirmed and is still under investigation with two major hypotheses, known as “depletion layer” and “cross-bridging.” We aim to ultimately understand the mechanism of the RBC aggregation and clarify both models. To measure the cell interaction in vitro in different suspensions (including plasma, isotonic solution of fibrinogen, isotonic solution of fibrinogen with albumin, and phosphate buffer saline) while moving the aggregate from one solution to another, an approach combining optical trapping and microfluidics has been applied. The study reveals evidence that RBC aggregation in plasma is at least partly due to the cross-bridging mechanism. The cell interaction strength measured in the final solution was found to be significantly changed depending on the initial solution where the aggregate was formed.
© 2017 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) 1083-3668/2017/$25.00 © 2017 SPIE
Kisung Lee, Christian Wagner, and Alexander V. Priezzhev "Assessment of the “cross-bridge”-induced interaction of red blood cells by optical trapping combined with microfluidics," Journal of Biomedical Optics 22(9), 091516 (21 June 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.22.9.091516
Received: 1 December 2016; Accepted: 26 May 2017; Published: 21 June 2017
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Cited by 20 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Blood

Microfluidics

Optical tweezers

Plasma

In vitro testing

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