Measurement of Plasma Clotting Using Shear Horizontal Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor

The monitoring of blood coagulation is important during operation. In this study, a shear horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) sensor is applied to monitor plasma clotting. An SH-SAW sensor with a metallized surface for mechanical perturbation detection can detect plasma clotting. As plasma clotting is a gel formation reaction, the SH-SAW sensor detects viscoelastic property changes. On the other hand, an SH-SAW sensor with a free surface for electrical perturbation detection detects only the liquid mixing effect. No electrical property changes due to plasma clotting are obtained using this sensor. A planar electrochemical sensor is also used to monitor plasma clotting. In impedance spectral analysis, plasma clotting is measured. However, in the measurement of time responses, no differences between clotting and nonclotting are obtained. Therefore, the SH-SAW sensor is useful for monitoring plasma clotting.