Development of a Micro-fluid Device for Blood Tests

Abstract

Many studies have been carried out in order to understand the real effects of space environment on the human body. Our aim is to create a very small, energy-saving vital signs monitoring device capable of facilitating simple and precise blood tests in an orbiting vehicle where harsh technical conditions experienced. The device also has the potential to be used portable and ubiquitous diagnostics systems for medical care at home or bedside. In this study, we developed a micro-fluid device using laser-processing and resin-lamination methods. A number of heat-hardening resin films are layered on a soda glass. A laser is used to fabricate part of the channel on each film for every lamination. The channels are 45 μm in depth and 50-150 μm in width. The components we have currently produced were : 1) a trident channel structure ; 2) a solid-body flow channel with a micro-pipe, both of which were designed to make blood cells flow in a single line in the channel for cell counting ; and 3) a micro-flow channel simulating a capillary vessel for measuring blood coagulation, platelet aggregation, and transformation of red blood cells. We have successfully observed blood cells flowing in these micro-fluid devices.