ULTRASONIC BLOOD CELL SEPARATOR

THE GRANTEE INTENDS TO APPLY THE PRESSURE GRADIENTS GENERATED BY STANDING ULTRASONIC WAVES TO SEPARATE THE CELLULAR ELEMENTS OF BLOOD FROM PLASMA. PRELIMINARY TESTS IN OUR LAB HAVE SHOWN THAT A STANDING ULTRASONIC WAVE IN THE 1 TO 2 MHZ RANGE PRODUCES ALTERNATE BANDS OF RED BLOOD CELLS AND CLEAR PLASMA IN STATIONARY BLOOD CONTAINED BETWEENA THIN PLASTIC MEMBRANE. ENERGY LEVELS REQUIRED FOR SEPARATION ARE NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO PRODUCE HEMOLYSIS. THEY WILL STUDY THE PARAMETERS OF THE ACOUSTIC WAVE AND HOW IT INTERACTS WITH THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF BLOOD TO EFFECT THESEPARATION OF THESE COMPONENTS FROM PLASMA. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ARE PROPOSED (1) TO DETERMINE THE TIME AND PURITY OF SEPARATION AS A FUNCTION OF THE CONCENTRATION OF THE ERYTHROCYTES, LYMPHOCYTES, AND PLATELETS WHEN SUSPENDED IN SALINE AND PLASMA, AND (2) TO EVALUATE WHAT ADVERSE EFFECTS IF ANY, THE ULTRASONIC WAVES WILL HAVE ON THE BLOOD CELLS, COAGULATION FACTORS AND SMALLER COMPONENTS OF BLOOD. IF THEY ACCOMPLISH SATISFACTORY SEPARATION WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE, THEY PROPOSE TO DEVELOP FLOW CHANNELS THAT WOULD ALLOW A CONTINUOUS SEPARATION OR FRACTIONATION OF BLOOD ELEMENTS. A RELATIVELY NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN PIEZOELECTRIC THIN FILMS (POLYVINYLIDENE FLUORIDE - PVF(2)) WILL BE USED TO PRODUCE SIMPLE, DISPOSABLE BLOOD SEPARATION DEVICES.