Non-dimensional parameters for blood-trauma characterization in high-shear flows

This study introduces non-dimensional blood trauma parameters that can correlate all blood-trauma data, and improve methods of cardiovascular device optimization by following principles and applications of the non-dimensional analysis technique established from fundamentals of fluid mechanics. Descriptors for hemolysis (MIH/LDH), percent platelet activation, and von Willebrand factor degradation are formulated in terms of non-dimensional exposure time together with the Capillary number (Ca), Taylor number (Ta), and geometry-related Reynolds numbers. To illustrate, we evaluated the proposed method using MIH/LDH measured in a Couette blood-shear apparatus operated across different flow regimes (laminar, laminar disturbances, laminar vortices and turbulence). The resulting relations link the non-dimensional hemolysis indicators to exposure time, the Capillary number (Ca), the Taylor number (Ta), and geometry-related Reynolds numbers. The proposed formulation collapses the dimensionless hemolysis indicesMIH''andLDHp''-spanning3.22×10-8to9.23×10-8and4.47×10-11to5.70×10-13, respectively-onto consistent trends, thereby enabling direct comparison across operating conditions (Regfrom 154 to 2236 andTafrom 191 to209,338). These findings indicate that the method can organize large blood-trauma datasets for analysis-including use as interpretable features in data-driven and generative-AI workflows-and support design choices aimed at reducing hemolysis in cardiovascular devices.