Fractural characteristic evaluation of a microcapsule suspension using a rotational shear stressor

We are developing microcapsule suspensions to evaluate the absolute hemolytic properties of centrifugal blood pumps. Four types of microcapsule suspensions, with maximum diameters of 100 microm or 10 microm, and membranes of polyurethane or melamine resin, were exposed to fluid dynamic shear up to 15,000 s(-1) with a rotating shear stressor developed in our laboratory. As a result, destruction was observed of only the 100 microm microcapsules. The microcapsules with polyurethane membranes broke at a high shear velocity range over 11,250 s(-1), a tendency similar to that observed using bovine blood. The microcapsules with melamine resin ruptured at approximately 7,500 s(-1). These observations could lead to determination of absolute hemolysis from shear stress occurring in centrifugal blood pumps.