Modification of a commercial thromboelastography instrument to measure coagulation dynamics with three-dimensional...

Three-dimensional synthetic constructs with complex geometries have immense potential for use in a multitude of blood-contacting applications. Understanding coagulation phenomena is arguably the most critical aspect for applications involving synthetic biomaterials; however, real-time evaluation of the clot formation while interfacing with these materials is difficult to achieve in a reproducible and robust manner. Here, work representing first steps toward addressing this deficit is presented, wherein modified consumables for a clinical instrument (a Thromboelastograph(®)) have been fabricated. Thromboelastography (TEG) measures viscoelastic properties throughout clot formation and therefore provides clinically relevant coagulation measurements in real time (i.e., kinetics and strength of clot formation). Through our modification, TEG consumables can readily accommodate three-dimensional materials (e.g., those for regenerative tissue applications). The authors performed proof-of-concept experiments using polymer scaffolds with a range of surface properties and demonstrated that variations in surface properties resulted in differences in blood plasma coagulation dynamics. For example, the maximum rate of thrombus generation ranged from 22.2 ± 2.2 (dyn/cm(2))/s for fluorocarbon coated scaffolds to 8.7 ± 1.0 (dyn/cm(2))/s for nitrogen-containing scaffolds. Through this work, the ability to make real-time coagulation activity measurements during constant coagulation factor interface with biomedically relevant materials is demonstrated.