FIG. 5.

Effect of high shear exposure on platelet counts. To determine whether platelets were being trapped within the microfluidic device, the ratio of platelets to red blood cells (RBCs) was analyzed by flow cytometry and used as a measure of platelet counts. No significant difference in the platelet:RBC ratio was observed between matching unsheared samples and the low shear (straight channel) or high shear samples. The number of cells is presented as the average value ± SEM and was derived from four to six experiments.