Monitoring Fibrin Polymerization Effects on Whole Blood Coagulation Using a Microfluidic Dielectric Sensor

This paper reports on the use of a microfluidic dielectric sensor, termed ClotChip, for monitoring the fibrin polymerization effects on whole blood coagulation. The ClotChip sensor readout captures the temporal variation in the normalized real part of the blood dielectric permittivity at 1MHz as it undergoes coagulation. A new readout parameter, Smax, is identified in the ClotChip readout curve, which represents the maximum permittivity slope after a permittivity peak is reached. Experiments based on ex vivo treatment of whole blood samples with H-Gly-Pro-Arg-Pro-OH (GPRP) – a fibrin-polymerization inhibitor – demonstrate that Smax decreases with increasing GPRP concentrations corresponding to higher levels of fibrin inhibition. Furthermore, Smax is shown to exhibit a strong positive correlation (Pearson’s r = 0.883, p < 0.001, n = 12) with the α-angle readout parameter of rotational thromboelastometry – a clinical, viscoelastometry-based, comprehensive assay of blood coagulation. This work shows the ClotChip potential as a point-of-care platform for rapid assessment of fibrin-polymerization defects and their impact on the overall hemostatic status.