Industry 4.0
Vol. 8 (2023), Issue 5, pg(s) 159-163

DOMINANT TECHNOLOGIES IN “INDUSTRY 4.0”

Evaluation of the Erythrocyte Aggregation Index in Women With Preeclampsia by the Usage of the Microfluidic Device And Specially Developed Rheological Software

  • 1 Institute of Mechanics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria; Center of Competence at Mechatronics and Clean Technologies – MIRACle, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 2 Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria; Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies "Acad. Yordan Malinovski", Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 3 Center of Competence at Mechatronics and Clean Technologies – MIRACle, Sofia, Bulgaria; Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 4 Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria; University Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital "Maichin Dom", Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 5 Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

Abstract

In this pilot study, microfluidic flow analysis and atomic force microscopy (AFM), are used, to determine microrheological properties of the blood – aggregation, and deformability of erythrocytes in women with preeclampsia (PE). The aggregation of red blood cells (RBCs) is evaluated with the microfluidic system BioFlux, by applying an experimental approach and image analysis created by the authors of this study. The elastic properties of erythrocytes are defined by Young’s modulus, using AFM. The aggregation index of erythrocytes and their elastic modulus are statistically significantly increased in patients with PE, in comparison to healthy normotensive pregnant women. In addition, it is found that the RBCs are less deformable and the interaction between them in aggregates is stronger in women with preeclampsia as compared with healthy pregnant women.

Keywords

References

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