Vascular injury

Predicting the effects of microneedles and mosquito bites

Problem

At the onset of vascular puncture, platelet transport and local flow asymmetry can determine whether hemostasis remains controlled or escalates pathologically. I studied this early phase in a geometry representative of microneedle and insect-bite injuries.

Approach

  • Build a punctured-vessel in silico model with cell-resolved blood dynamics.
  • Develop a matched in vitro flow-chamber setup for experimental comparison.
  • Vary puncture diameter and pressure-drop conditions.
  • Quantify local shear, elongation, and cell distribution asymmetries around the wound neck.

Key finding

Both simulations and experiments showed directional asymmetry near the puncture neck, with distinct distal/proximal aggregation behavior linked to local transport patterns.

Why it matters

The platform provides a mechanistic testbed for separating healthy hemostatic response from thrombosis-prone flow conditions in puncture injuries.

Outputs

  • Publication details are listed in the References section below.
  • Comparative in silico/in vitro setup visuals are included on this page.

References

2023

  1. Initial platelet aggregation in the complex shear environment of a punctured vessel model
    Christian J Spieker, Gábor Závodszky, Clarisse Mouriaux, and 2 more authors
    Physics of Fluids, 2023
  2. Simulating Initial Steps of Platelet Aggregate Formation in a Cellular Blood Flow Environment
    Christian J Spieker, Konstantinos Asteriou, and Gabor Zavodszky
    In International Conference on Computational Science, 2023