Understanding thread properties for red blood cell antigen assays: weak ABO blood typing

Area of Science:

• Microfluidics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Thread-based microfluidics traditionally focuses on wicking properties for channel formation.
• Understanding thread separation capabilities is crucial for microfluidic blood analysis applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of microscale fiber surface morphologies on thread separation efficiency of red blood cells.
• To evaluate the utility of thread properties for microfluidic blood typing assays, including weak subgroups.

Main Methods:

• Confocal microscopy was employed to analyze the microscale surface morphologies of different fibers.
• Microfluidic thread-based analytical devices (μTADs) were fabricated using silk and cotton threads.
• The separation efficiency of red blood cells by different threads was assessed.

Main Results:

• Silk and cotton threads exhibited significantly different red blood cell separation properties.
• Thread separation characteristics directly influenced the clarity of ABO blood typing, including weak subgroups (Ax, A3).
• The developed μTADs accurately typed 89 normal ABO and 6 weak A subgroup blood samples.

Conclusions:

• Thread surface morphology is a critical factor in microfluidic separation for blood analysis.
• Tailoring thread surface properties enables the development of highly effective μTADs for rapid and accurate blood typing.
• This approach offers improved clarity for identifying both common and rare blood group variations.