面向红细胞疲劳评估的介电泳微流控平台构建与实验研究

Construction and Experimental Study of a Dielectrophoretic Microfluidic Platform for Red Blood Cell Fatigue Assessment

  • 摘要: 为探究储存时间与循环拉伸载荷对红细胞粘弹性及变形能力的耦合影响,搭建了基于介电泳的微流控单细胞力学表征平台。对不同储存时长(0、4、7、13天)的红细胞施加可控循环电变形载荷(周期4 s,有效电压2 V),采用Kelvin-Voigt粘弹性本构模型,通过指数函数对红细胞变形比-时间曲线进行分段拟合,定量表征剪切模量及剪切粘度的变化。结果表明:随循环拉伸次数增加,红细胞最大变形比持续下降;剪切模量与剪切粘度均呈单调上升,其中储存13天组在2250次后剪切模量跃升至初始值的5~6倍。储存天数也会影响红细胞力学特性退化速率,短期储存(0-7天)参数变化平缓,而较长期储存(13天)后疲劳敏感性显著增强,剪切模量提升幅度高达250%以上。本研究揭示了循环拉伸诱导的累积性膜疲劳硬化是红细胞变形能力衰退的主因,储存时长通过降低膜结构稳定性加速这一过程,为理解红细胞在血液循环中的力学适应机制提供了新视角。

     

    Abstract: To investigate the coupled effects of storage duration and cyclic tensile loading on the viscoelasticity and deformability of red blood cells (RBCs), a dielectrophoresis-based microfluidic platform for single-cell mechanical characterization was developed. RBCs stored for different durations (0, 4, 7, and 13 days) were subjected to controlled cyclic electrical deformation (period of 4 s, effective voltage of 2 V). Using the Kelvin-Voigt viscoelastic model, the deformation ratio–time curves were piecewise fitted with exponential functions to quantitatively determine the changes in shear modulus and shear viscosity of the RBC membrane. The results show that as the number of cyclic stretching cycles increases, the maximum deformation ratio of RBCs continuously decreases. Both shear modulus and shear viscosity increase monotonically, with the shear modulus in the 13-day storage group rising to 5–6 times its initial value after 2,250 cycles. Storage duration significantly affects the degradation rate of RBC mechanical properties: short-term storage (0–7 days) results in relatively mild changes in mechanical parameters, while long-term storage (13 days) markedly enhances fatigue sensitivity, with the shear modulus increasing by more than 250%. This study reveals that cumulative membrane fatigue hardening induced by cyclic stretching is the primary cause of the decline in RBC deformability, and that storage duration accelerates this process by reducing membrane structural stability, offering a new perspective for understanding the mechanical adaptation mechanism of RBCs in blood circulation.

     

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