A tiny laboratory the size of a postage stamp could be the next big thing in the search for safer anti-clotting drugs to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The effectiveness of current anti-clotting medication can be limited due to the risk of complications, driving a need for alternatives that can both prevent the formation of blood clots and reduce the risk of excessive and life-threatening bleeding.
The new biocompatible lab-on-a-chip, detailed in a paper published recently in the journal Analytical Chemistry, could help accelerate the discovery and development of new anti-clotting therapies. The technology has been developed by a team of biochemists and engineers led by RMIT University and the Haematology Micro-platforms group at the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD) in Melbourne, Australia.
Lead investigator Dr Warwick Nesbitt, RMIT and Monash University, is working with collaborators at the ACBD to use the pioneering device to better understand clotting mechanisms and develop new anti-clotting drugs.
Nesbitt said very few microdevices developed to date were suitable for clinical or research use, because they had not been driven by insight into how blood actually behaves. “Blood is extremely sensitive to artificial surfaces and clots very easily, so blood-handling technologies must be equally sensitive,” Nesbitt, a Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow at RMIT and group leader at ACBD, said.
“We’ve combined a deep understanding of the biology of blood with precision microfabrication engineering and design, to deliver a device that can work with whole blood and produce reliable results. We hope this powerful new tool will give researchers an edge in delivering better and safer anti-clotting treatments, to improve the health and wellbeing of millions around the world.”