BULK ACOUSTIC-WAVE SENSOR FOR INVESTIGATING HEMORHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PLASMA AND ITS COAGULATION

A method of using a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) device to study the hemor heological phenomena is proposed. By measuring the resonant resistance of a BAW device, the dependence of the plasma viscosity on its compos ition is investigated. It has been found that during the process of th e plasma coagulation, the frequency response of a BAW device is domina ted by the change in plasma viscoelasticity, and useful information su ch as the coagulation time and the viscoelasticity of coagulated plasm a can be obtained from the curve of frequency response. Based on the B AW quartz detection system, effects of fibrinogen, thrombin and some d rugs on the plasma coagulation are investigated. The results show that the BAW device based on the oscillator method possesses some advantag es, such as high sensitivity, simplicity of use, cost effectiveness an d small sample volume for clinical hemorheological study.