Development of a fibre-optic flow sensor to monitor blood platelet adhesive function

Abstract

The ability to accurately diagnose platelet dysfunction is key to the clinical management of many cardiovascular diseases which represent a major cause of mortality in the industrialised world. At present there is no clinically robust instrument that can accurately assess abnormal platelet function under conditions that closely mimic the physiological environment. We aim to develop a sensitive prototype instrument for the clinical assessment of platelet function. We propose to develop this medical device as a relatively cheap and portable point of care instrument that can be marketed internationally.