A research group led by Professor Makoto Kaneko of Osaka University has developed a microchannel-embedded red blood cell hardness checker that boasts the world's highest data correlation value.It was clarified that a statistically significant difference (statistically objective difference) appears when erythrocytes of a cardiovascular patient and a healthy person are passed through an ultrafine artificial blood vessel.

 Until now, the erythrocyte hardness measurement method using a microchannel (Note) has the great advantage of high throughput (processing capacity per unit time), but has the problem that the reliability of acquired data is not guaranteed, so it is practical. It was a distant situation.In particular, the correlation between the cell velocity in the chip (evaluation index of hardness) and the degree of deformation was only 0.3 to 0.8 (the highest correlation value was 1.0).

 Based on a new fluid engineering idea, the research group fundamentally reviewed the internal flow path design of the hardness evaluation index measurement chip.As a result, we succeeded in obtaining the world's highest correlation value of 0.92, which is the average correlation between the cell velocity in the chip and the degree of deformation, and ensured the reliability of the experimental data.Furthermore, it was found that there is a significant difference in the erythrocyte hardness index between cardiovascular patients and healthy subjects depending on the developed chip.

 With this achievement, the introduction of a new biomarker called the red blood cell hardness index in the risk assessment of patients with cardiovascular disease becomes a reality.Furthermore, it is expected to elucidate new pathological conditions in cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction, and to develop new therapeutic methods targeting erythrocyte hardness.

(Note) A microchannel is a device that performs various analyzes by passing a substance through a minute passage on a substrate (microchip).When red blood cells are passed through a flow path narrower than their size, the harder the red blood cells are, the harder they are to deform and the harder they are to pass.It is said that when red blood cells become hard, the viscosity of blood increases and the risk of myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction increases.

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