Microfluidic Model of Sickle Cell Pathophysiology

We present a minimal microfluidic device that allows the study of whole blood rheology in vitro as a function of key biological and physical parameters. We apply this platform to the study of sickle cell disease, a condition for which there are no analytical tools capable of assessing disease severity or predicting treatment efficacy. We demonstrate that our system can distinguish blood samples from patients with severe and benign disease based on rheology. This device could be a powerful tool for optimizing existing treatments of sickle cell disease as well as a platform for developing new therapies.