Rheology of a Blood Analogue Based on Alginate Microparticles

This study aims to characterize the rheology of a blood analogue fluid based on alginate microparticles. These microparticles are designed to match the size, mechanical properties, and behaviour of red blood cells (RBCs) and are created using premix membrane emulsification (PME), with their mechanical properties being adjusted by varying the concentration of the initial alginate solution and the gelation conditions. The microparticle size can also be controlled by using membranes with different pore sizes. Using 5 and 3 wt.% alginate solutions, microparticles with diameters of 7.81 µm  ±  0.77 and 3.13 µm  ±  0.64, respectively, were obtained. Rheological studies show that suspensions with a concentration of 25–30 wt.% microparticles exhibit shear-thinning behaviour close to human blood. The results reveal that within this size range, microparticle size has minimal impact on the rheology of the final fluid. The developed alginate microparticles hold significant potential for developing a new blood analogue fluid for biomedical applications.