Abstract
RBC (red blood cell) deformability is one of factors inducing blood shear thinning effect. Reduction of RBC deformability increases blood viscosity in high shear region. In this study, 3D printed chip with proper distribution of wall shear rate (WSR) was proposed to measure RBC deformability of blood samples. To fabricate 3D printed chip, the design of 3D printed chip determined through numerical simulation was modified based on the resolution of the 3D printer. For the estimation of pressure drop in the 3D printed chip, two bypass outlets with low and high WSR are exposed to atmospheric pressure through the needles. By positioning the outlet of needles in the gravity direction, the formation of droplets at bypass outlets can be captured by smartphone. Through image processing and fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis, the frequency of droplet formation was analyzed. Since the frequency of droplet formation is related with the pressure at bypass, high pressure drop caused by reduction of RBC deformability can be estimated by monitoring the formation of blood droplets using the smartphone.