Aspirin and other blood thinners are often prescribed to help prevent formation of thrombi that can lead to strokes and heart attacks. While these can be very effective, their benefit seems to vary greatly patient to patient. The reasons are still not well understood, but having a handy tool to evaluate how a drug affects the coagulation of the patient’s own blood before making a prescription would significantly improve antiplatelet therapy.

Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed and tested a new device that puts blood through mechanical stresses, such as found within narrow dynamic vasculature, while seeing how various drugs help resist clotting. The device has four tubes, each replicating a coronary artery, through which blood premixed with a drug is pumped through. Each tube has a different “shear rate,” or stress applied to the blood due to the pressure inside the tube, which allows blood to be tested as though it’s moving through a variety of arteries, from atherosclerosic to more healthy ones.

Source:Georgia Tech