In Vivo Quantification of Clot Formation in Extracorporeal Circuits

TL;DR

This study introduces a new image processing method to quantify clot formation in extracorporeal circuits, enabling better understanding of clot development related to blood flow conditions.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel, image-based approach for in vivo clot quantification in extracorporeal circuits, linking clot size and density to flow duration.

Findings

Clot density correlates with flow duration.

Image analysis accurately measures clot size.

Clot formation increases with longer circulation times.

Abstract

Clot formation is a common complication in extracorporeal circuits. In this paper we describe a novel method for clot formation analysis using image processing. We assembled a closed extracorporeal circuit and circulated blood at varying speeds. Blood filters were placed in downstream of the flow, and clotting agents were added to the circuit. Digital images of the filter were subsequently taken, and image analysis was applied to calculate the density of the clot. Our results show a significant correlation between the cumulative size of the clots, the density measure of the clot based on image analysis, and flow duration in the system.