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Updated: Apr 20, 2026

In Vitro Model of Physiological and Pathological Blood Flow with Application to Investigations of Vascular Cell Remodeling
Published on: November 3, 2015
Hydrodynamic characteristics of a membrane oxygenator: modeling of pressure-flow characteristics and their influence
S Okahara1, T Tsuji2, S Ninomiya3
1Department of System Cybernetics, Graduate School of Engineering, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan Department of Clinical Engineering, Hiroshima University Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan okahara@hiroshima-u.ac.jp.
Abstract:
The viscosity obtained from pressure-flow characteristics of an oxygenator may help to detect factors that change oxygenator resistance. The objective of this study was to model pressure-flow characteristics of a membrane oxygenator with an integrated arterial filter and to quantify their influence on apparent viscosity of non-Newtonian fluids. One Newtonian fluid (glycerin solution) and two non-Newtonian fluids (whole bovine blood and a human red blood cell suspension) were perfused through an oxygenator and their pressure-flow characteristics examined systematically. Four resistance parameters for the pressure gradient characteristics approximation equation were obtained by the least squares method from the relational expression of pressure-flow characteristics and viscosity. For all three fluids, a non-linear flow to pressure change was observed with a coefficient of determination of almost 1 by exponential approximation. The glycerin solution had a higher pressure gradient (10-70%) than the other fluids; the apparent viscosity of the non-Newtonian fluids was around 35% lower than the static one measured by a torsional oscillation viscometer. Overall, our study demonstrated that the influence on the apparent viscosity of non-Newtonian fluids can be quantified by pressure gradient differences in a membrane oxygenator with an integrated arterial filter.
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