Effects of dielectrophoresis on thrombogenesis in human whole blood

Thrombogenesis (blood clot formation) is a major barrier to the development of biomedical devices that interface with blood. Although state-of-the-art chemically and pharmacologically mediated clot mitigation strategies are effective, some limitations of such approaches include depletion of active agents, or adverse reactions in patients. Increased clotting protein adsorption and platelet adhesion, which occur when artificial surfaces are exposed to blood result in enhanced clot formation on artificial surfaces. It is hypothesized that repelling proteins and platelets using dielectrophoresis (DEP), a contact-free particle manipulation technique, will reduce clot formation in biomedical devices. In this paper, the effect of DEP on thrombogenesis in human blood is investigated. Undiluted whole blood from human donors is pumped through microchannels at a physiological shear rate (400 s^-1 ). Experiments are performed by applying 0 V, 0.5 V_rms , 2 V_rms , and 3 V_rms to electrodes in the channel. Clot formation is observed to decrease in experiments in which DEP electrodes are active (average of 6% coverage @ 0V reduced to 0.08% coverage @ 3 V_rms ). Repulsion is more effective at higher voltages. DEP causes a quantifiable reduction in microscopic and macroscopic clot formation in PDMS microchannels.