In-vitro evaluation of blood fluidity using an electromagnetically spinning rheometry system

Viscosity is an essential physical property for determining blood fluidity, which shows remarkable dependence on shear rate. In this study, we introduce a newly developed rheometry system with high sensitivity applicable for in-vitro evaluation of fluidity of blood. A new auto-balancing rotor has been designed, which improves the measurement accuracy even for low viscosity at low shear rate. Our system measures the viscosity of completely confined sample avoiding contamination from/to samples. These features are suitable for quantitative analysis of bio-component solutions, including bloods. The system was applied to measurement of viscosity curves of human fresh bloods. The obtained results clearly showed reasonable difference among the individuals, and the measurement range of the shear rate were sufficiently wide to reproduce the actual blood flow in all kinds of vessels.