Advanced in vitro hemocompatibility assessment of biomaterials using a new flow incubation system

We present a new setup that enables standardized whole blood incubation of biomedical materials under flow. A blood volume of 2 ml is recirculated over test surfaces in a custom-made parallel plate incubation system to determine the activation of hemostasis and inflammation. Controlled physiological shear rates between 125 s-1 and 1,250 s-1 and minimized contact to air are combined with a natural-like pumping process. A unique feature of this setup allows tracing adhesion of blood cells to test surfaces microscopically in situ. Validation testing was performed in comparison to previously applied whole blood incubation methodologies.