Cardiovascular Engineering: clinical Blood Viscometer

摘要

The development of clinical devices to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases has been the subject of strong research interest in recent years. The relevance of such development is of immense importance since the mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases is increasing in our society and two out of three related deaths take place in the absence of diagnosis of the disease. Hence, it is critical to provide easy and meaningful diagnosis and early detection of any relevant abnormality, which can enhance prevention efforts to save lives. The first step in the development of a useful clinical tool will probably require us to have a critical understanding of the physiological implications of the cardiovascular system with special reference to risk factors linked to cardiovascular disease states. In particular, it may be necessary to focus on the rheological aspects linked to cardiovascular diseases as strong evidence of the close relationship between these two has been found in many recent clinical studies. The cardiovascular system in our body, in general, as its name implies, comprises the heart and blood vessels. Two key blood circulatory flows can be distinguished, namely the macrocirculation and microcirculation.