FIG. 5.

(a) Schematic of the microfluidic device for monitoring the temporal variations of biophysical properties of rat blood circulating in a complex fluidic network. The fluidic network is established by connecting the abdominal aorta and jugular vein in an extracorporeal rat bypass model. The extracorporeal rat bypass loop consists of a flow stabilizer (air cavity = 0.5 ml) and microfluidic channel. To measure biophysical properties (viscosity, flow rate, pressure), PBS solution is supplied as a reference fluid by using a syringe pump. (b) Temporal variations of the flow rate of PBS solution at the hydrodynamic balancing state (Q_PBS^B) and the balancing pressure (P_B) of rat blood circulating within the complex fluidic network. (c) Temporal variations of flow rate of blood at the hydrodynamic balancing state (Q_Blood^B) and rat blood viscosity (μ_Blood) measured by using Eq. (1). (d) Relationship between the velocity ratio (η) and blood viscosity (μ_Blood). Solid line depicts the linear-curve fitting with respect to blood viscosity. R² values and the corresponding fitting equations are included. Dotted lines indicate 95% confidence intervals.