Ischemia, a local blood supply disorder resulting from reduction or complete deficiency of blood supply in an organ or in a tissue caused by constriction or obstruction of its blood vessels, resulting in hypoxia, malnutrition and finally necrosis of the part of an organ suffering from ischemic process, is a frequent phenomenon in pathogenesis of many clinical conditions, as well as during performing surgical procedures. The causes of this phenomenon include, among others, formation of fibrin clots of abnormal stability and structure. Epidemiologic data obtained from ex vivo and in vitro studies indicate that the abnormal properties of fibrin clot are related to the occurrence of ischemic strokes, myocardial infarction or thromboembolic vascular disease. In general, the clots composed of dense network of thin fibrin fibres with tiny pores and high stability and resistance to enzymatic degradation, are related to the presence of prothrombotic state. Therefore, there are strong premises that the permeability of a fibrin clot can be a risk factor in the occurrence of thromboembolic events.

Considering the fact that cardiovascular diseases are considered as the most frequent cause of death, and that the majority of diseases are related to the presence of prothrombotic state in blood vessels, there is a potential necessity to measure clot permeability as a routine test, which calls for utmost automation and simplification of the measurement. Therefore, we develop a method, a device and a system to automate and simplify the measurement of permeability, as well as to improve the quality of measurement.

A device for measuring permeability of a material sample, the device comprising: an input tank (1) configured to store fluid and to supply the fluid to a sample tank (2) positioned below the input tank (1) and configured to hold the material sample, such as to allow the fluid from the input tank (1) to permeate through the material sample; a receptacle (25) positioned under the sample tank (2) to collect drops of fluid permeated through the material sample; and a device (3) for measuring the mass of the drops collected in the receptacle (25) and coupled with a controlling and monitoring device (11) configured to store data on measured mass and measurement times.

References:

Patent: EP 2746766 A1

Publication: Zabczyk M., PILAT A., Awsiuk M., Undas A., An automated method for fibrin clot permeability assessment : technical report, Blood Coagulation & Fibrinolysis ; ISSN 0957-5235. — 2015 vol. 26 iss. 1, s. 104–109