Injury-on-a-chip for modelling microvascular trauma-induced coagulation

Abstract

Blood coagulation is a highly regulated injury response that features polymerization of fibrin fibers to prevent the passage of blood from a damaged vascular endothelium. A growing body of research seeks to monitor coagulation in microfluidic systems but fails to capture coagulation as a response to disruption of the vascular endothelium. Here we present a device that allows compression injury of a defined segment of a microfluidic vascular endothelium and the assessment of coagulation at the injury site. This pressure injury-on-a-chip (PINCH) device allows visualization of coagulation as the accumulation of fluorescent fibrin at injury sites. Quantification of fluorescent fibrin levels upstream of and at injury sites confirm that pre-treating vascular endothelium with fluid shear stress helps capture coagulation as an injury response. We leverage the PINCH devices to demonstrate the limited coagulation response of type A hemophiliacs and evaluate the performance of hemostatic microparticles and fibrinolytic nanoparticles. Our findings and the straightforward fabrication of the PINCH devices make it a promising choice for additional screening of hemostatic therapeutics.