Patent Application: US-97589407-A

Abstract:
an apparatus and method for measuring blood platelet contractility , hereinafter called a “ retractometer ” is disclosed . also disclosed is a system apparatus and method for automatically measuring platelet contractility in a plurality of samples , having an array of retractometer units and an electronic solenoid valve controller to fully automate screening in clinical and research situations and . save costs in labor .

Description:
after in vitro clot formation , the fibrin meshwork entraps virtually all the serum and the cellular components of blood . within minutes to hours , the platelets in the clot contract , expelling a very large fraction of the serum . this process is known as clot retraction . although the physiological relevance of clot retraction is still not fully understood , the fact that platelets are needed for this process to take place is well documented ( 1 ). there is strong experimental evidence that suggests the participation of an actinomyosin contractile mechanism as well as the involvement of the platelet α iib β 3 in the process ( 2 ; 3 ). the present invention is based on the rationale that the development of a reliable method for the study of clot retraction will bring not only a useful tool to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the physiological mechanisms , but also an important tool for the monitoring of the overall well - being of the platelets in a blood sample . this invention will potentially yield an important diagnostic tool for the monitoring and detection of pathological states , as well as an easy - to - use tool for the monitoring of platelet viability for transfusion purposes . in order to develop the instant invention , certain relevant parameters had to be elucidated . in the examples hereinbelow , are described determinations of platelet activation under certain conditions , as well as manipulations of clot geometry . blood obtained from healthy volunteers was mixed with d - phenyl alanyl - l - prolyl - l - arginine chloromethyl ketone dihydrocloride ( ppack , 93 : m ) to prevent clotting . the platelet count was adjusted to 10 , 000 / μl to reduce the number of events on the surface and facilitate image analysis . perfusion experiments were conducted in a parallel plate flow chamber at 37 ° c . ( 3 ) using type i collagen fibrils as reactive substrate onto glass coverslips . the interaction of flowing platelets with the surface was evaluated in real time by reflection interference contrast microscopy ( ricm ) using a zeiss axiovert 135m microscope . in this technique , interference colors indicate the distance between two surfaces , such as cellular membranes and a substrate coated on glass . on a gray scale , zero - order black indicates a separation of 4 - 12 nm , and white a distance & gt ; 20 - 30 nm ( 15 ; 19 ). experiments were recorded on s - vhs videotape at the rate of 30 frames per second and analyzed off - line with metamorph ( universal imaging ) software . the top panel in fig1 ( 0 minutes ) shows the native spheroidal shape of the platelets , before activation . a few seconds after the initial platelet adhesion occurs , the first signs of activation are seen as dramatic shape changes and subsequent adhesion of the platelet membrane to the reactive surface . the other panels ( 2 and 4 minutes ) show the activation and spreading that two single platelets undergo . of notice is the large area that a single platelet can cover . this experiment shows the large amount of “ membrane reservoir ” contained by the relatively small platelets . after activation , the platelets initiate contraction , resulting in their deformation and clot formation . this phenomenon is not observed in the photographs shown here because the platelets are attached to a non - deformable surface ( glass ); however , the platelets increase the tension on their membrane due to the abovementioned cytoskeleton rearrangement . in order to demonstrate some of the technical capabilities currently being developed in the inventors &# 39 ; laboratory , a summary of the development of a technique to create an upscale replica of an actual thrombus is presented below . the geometrical data of the thrombus are obtained with confocal microscopy while the blood is continuously flowing as previously reported ( 20 ). this technique was developed to study the flow field around a thrombus in an upscale chamber . by matching the reynolds number , it is possible to determine the flow path in the microscopic realm , based on the similarity principle . the evolution of an isolated thrombus at 100s − 1 is depicted in fig2 . for the experiment shown here , a single thrombus was recorded from initiation of the flow . this image shows the growth changes in the thrombus once it is developed (& gt ; 10 minutes ) to 30 minutes . each image is derived from the summation of a series of confocal image slices . of note is the peculiar growth pattern of the thrombus . platelet deposition appears to occur in the downstream areas . below , inventors describe their technical solution to create an upscale three - dimensional ( 3 - d ) model of a thrombus based on the information obtained with confocal microscopy . as a first step , inventors decided to investigate the already available techniques for 3 - d rapid prototyping . a commonly used technique is stereolithography , which uses step - wise planar buildup of the object , based on the solidification of a photoresin by a laser beam . after each layer is cured , the object is lowered into a fluid resin pool by a distance equal to the vertical resolution of the system . this technique appears to be adequate in view of the complex geometries that it can handle . the main practical difficulty in merging confocal microscopy and stereolithography is the lack of compatibility of the data . confocal microscopy renders the data in a series of images ( tiff files in our system ). these images are represented by a series of pixels with a given grayscale value , and the images are separated by the distance of the confocal sections ( 1 μm in this case ). stereolithography , on the other hand , uses ascii files that contain coordinates of the surfaces surrounding the object . this format has the practical advantage of possessing the capability to rotate objects to an orientation that facilitates the manufacturing process . inventors developed the series of steps that successfully led to the generation of a stereolithography file from the original images of the experimental data . the confocal microscopy images obtained were preprocessed with a 3 × 3 median filter , in order to minimize noise originated by the flow . the images were then translated into a voxel space with a software package written by inventors specifically for this purpose . this package maintains the relative positions of the measured objects in a cartesian three - dimensional space . the voxel representation of the microscopic field was then used with avs release 5 . 3 ( application . visual systems , inc ., waltham , mass .) to render the three - dimensional field . this software package allows the operator to interpolate a surface ( isosurface ) between contiguous voxels with an intensity above a preset threshold . this isosurface is comprised of a series of triangles , each triangle being a “ surface unit .” the coordinates of these surface units were then stored in a geometry information file . the geometry file was then translated into an “ stl ” file ( standard input format for stereolithography ) with a software package written by inventors specifically for this purpose . the stl file contains the coordinates of the vortices of the surface units and a normal vector pointing outside of the body of the object to be materialized . during the fabrication process , a scale factor was included to yield the desired dimensions . a graphic representation of the file generation is shown in fig3 . for the experiment shown in this fig3 , an isolated thrombus obtained with collagen spray was used . the wall shear rate was 100 s - 1 and the data presented correspond to images taken after 10 minutes of flow . the geometry reconstructed here corresponds to the thrombus shown in the early time of fig2 . the upper left panel shows a summation of all the confocal images obtained from a real thrombus . the upper right panel shows the topographical representation of the thrombus in pseudocolor . the bar on the right shows the color code for the height in micrometers . the lower left panel shows the 3 - d representation rendered with avs , as described above . although it is possible to orient the geometry to any position , a planar view was chosen for easier comparison of the 3 - d representation with the original data . the lower right panel shows a graphic representation of the stl file . the graph shows a wire model of the file , with the orientation identical to the previous panels . the “ hedgehog ” appearance is due to normal vectors pointing outside of the body , as described in the method . for clarity , the normal vectors are shown in blue , and the wire model in white . this type of graphic representation is not necessary for the actual fabrication process , but it is useful for error detection in the creation of the files and overall quality evaluation of the process . in the graph , the complexity of the surface and the large number of triangles necessary to reconstruct such a complex geometry can be appreciated . fig4 shows the actual model described above built to a scale of 300 : 1 and has a volume of 3 . 44 cm 3 . the running time for this sample was 2 . 3 hours , using a fdm 2000 stereolithography machine ( stratasys , ontario ca ). the orientation of this photography is similar but not identical to the orientation shown in fig2 and 3 . the performance of the device of this invention is based on the laplace principle , in which the tension developed by the contraction of a sheet of platelets during clot retraction is transformed into an increase in pressure inside a semispherical flexible membrane . the geometry of the proposed device is the following . let r o be the radius of a spherical container and ri the radius of a concentrical spherical membrane as shown in fig5 ( a and b ), r o & gt ; r i , h = r o - r i ; r o , r i & gt ;& gt ; h . two alternate embodiments of the retractometer of this invention are shown in fig5 ab . top panel ( a ), is a design in which the individual retractometers can be connected through a system of communicating vessels sharing a common pressure transducer . this design allows the simultaneous measurement of several samples . in fig . a , prior to clotting , a blood sample is placed inside ( 2 ) the rigid reservoir ( 3 ). the thickness of the sample at 2 is h = r o - r i . a thin layer of mineral oil ( light white oil , sigma ) is placed on top of the blood sample to avoid evaporation . as tension along the wall of the flexible membrane ( 4 ) increases due to clot retraction , the pressure inside the tube ( 1 ) increases . bottom panel ( b ) is a design in which the operator “ snaps ” the clay plug ( 7 ) of the air filled capillary tube , by bending it around the etching ( scoring ) ( 6 ) before starting the reading . then the fluid inside the capillary reaches the “ zero level ” corresponding to the hydrostatic pressure of the system ( details of the filling of the flexible membrane are given hereinbelow ). the filling fluid of the flexible membrane may contain a coloring agent for easier visualization . the presence of the plug ( 7 ) prevents both fluid evaporation and changes in the fluid level by manipulation of the retractometer . this design allows the direct measurement of the pressure without the need of electronics . fig6 is a diagrammatic representation of the contracting element described in the body of the text . the upper object of fig6 represents the fibrin network before platelet contraction . as an example , fig6 shows an isotropic retraction with a longitudinal strain of − 0 . 5 . the strain g is defined as g =( l - l 0 )/ l 0 , where l is the length at the end of the deformation , and l 0 is the initial length . the bottom object shows the result of the isotropic contraction . an important consideration in the design and performance of the retractometer device is that when the shell element described in fig6 contracts , the only changes that contribute to an increase in the tension in the contracting element are l1 and l2 . a contraction in h does not contribute to development of tension on the system described in fig5 . this concept is detailed in fig7 . fig7 is a diagram representing the origin of the forces developed by platelet contraction in a retractometer . when the fibrin network contracts , tension develops along the surface of the element , due to the “ pull ” between the contracting elements . because the outer surface of the contracting element is free , the contraction of the element along the thickness h results in a decrease in volume and not a modification of tension on the contracting element . in order to better represent this concept , the diagram on the right shows a free body taken from the contracting element . a change in radius of the cylindrical component shown results in an increase in tension along the surface as shown , while a change in height ( h ) does not modify the tension along the surface of the plate . in order to calculate the magnitude by which a variation in the tension of the clot will result in a variation of internal pressure in the device shown in fig5 , it is helpful to use a free body diagram as shown in fig8 . fig8 represents a force analysis of the retractometer of this invention . the flexible membrane of the retractometer is modeled for this analysis as a perfect sphere . a is a diametrical cross - section in a plane passing through the center of the sphere as shown . the resultant inner pressure pi is homogeneously distributed on the inner surface of the retractometer . the origin of all the vectors is the center of the sphere and all of them have the same magnitude . the dotted line in this panel shows the arbitrary cross - section where the analysis is performed . b is a geometrical representation of two arbitrary but symmetrical vectors acting on the unit represented in a . notice that the horizontal components ( parallel to the cross - section shown in a with the dotted line ) of these vectors cancel each other , the vertical component ( normal to our arbitrary section shown in a ) does not cancel by any of the vectors acting on the lower half of the sphere . therefore , for the force analysis , the only vectoral components of the force resultant of pi acting on the surface are normal to the cross section shown in a . these vectors act on the area a 1 , shown in c , and a 2 is the sectional area of the wall of the sphere . d is a free body diagram of a thin slice of the body shown in c cut by two parallel planes at a small distance apart , one on each side of the center of the sphere . the circumferential stress f is a stress acting on , and normal to , the cross - sectional plane . & lt ; f & gt ; is the average value of f , which is non - uniform across the thickness of the wall . the value of & lt ; f & gt ; is computed hereinbelow . the vectors on the right side of d show the condition of equilibrium . as explained above , the force acting vertically and downwards ( f 2 ) is computed as the pressure acting on a 1 , or pi ( a 1 ) and f 2 = pi ( a 1 )= piπr i 2 . the area of the wall of the contractile element is br o 2 - br i 2 . the resultant tensile force due to clot retraction in this particular geometry is f 1 = b ( r o 2 - r i 2 )& lt ; f & gt ;. the balance of the forces in equilibrium requires , therefore , that f1 = f2 , or : therefore , the average tensile force can be easily calculated based on the measurement of the hydrostatic pressure inside the compartment defined by the flexible membrane . this analysis is exact for a perfect sphere . although the retractometer deviates from this uniform stress field in the area where the flexible membrane attaches to the capillary tube or connecting tube , the stress analysis is an excellent approximation at the operational level and it is valid for the purposes of the design presented in this description . in order to be able to calibrate their retractometer and compare it with other known experimental models , inventors decided to implement a system described by others ( 17 ), in which a cylindrical clot is immersed in ice - cold buffer to prevent platelet contraction . the clots are then anchored and held vertically to the bottom of the container at their lower end and to a force transducer to the upper end of the clot . an isotonic force transducer was implemented . the system is based on the single supported beam principle . the mechanical model is a cantilever beam clamped at one end , subject to a constant bending moment . according to the following description : where : m is the bending moment imposed by the load on the cantilevered beam , e is young &# 39 ; s modulus , i is a property of the cross - sectional geometry of the beam , the term on the left is the deflection of the beam ( assuming a deflection much smaller than the length of the beam ). where s is the transverse shear . the bending moment and the transverse shear are related to the lateral load by : because a small curvature is assumed , and the slope of the deflection is finite , the equation to be used instead of d : 3 is : therefore , for a load imposed at a fixed distance in x , for a constant bending moment , and for a small deflection , the deflection . is a linear function of the moment . for the implementation of the force transducer , inventors used a borosilicate glass rod , with a length of 15 cm and a diameter of 1 mm . due to the relative length of the rod , deflections up to a maximum of 2 cm can be considered small . the results of the calibration experiments are shown in fig1 . the range tested was from 0 to 5 gram force . this range proved to be adequate . for the experimental conditions . fig1 shows the calibration graph of a single cantilevered transducer that is part of this invention . steps of 1 gram were used in the calibration . the means of the experimental points are shown with their corresponding standard error of the mean . the continuous line corresponds to the linear regression of the measured points . the correlation coefficient calculated is r 2 = 0 . 9995 . the force resolution of this transducer is 2 . 85 × 10 − 4 gram force . fabrication of the retractometer required research and development in the following areas : 1 ) manufacturing of the flexible membranes . which is subsequently divided in two steps : a ) fabrication of a suitable immersion mold b ) fabrication of the membranes 2 ) filling of the membranes . this step is necessary to assure that the internal pressure of the membranes corresponds to the hydrostatic pressure of the fluid around them , during operation . 3 ) adjusting of the fluid level inside the capillary at “ zero pressure ” level . this step is necessary for the operator to see the fluid level above the capillary holders . 4 ) calibration of the system and comparison with an alternative method . the alternative method will be to measure directly the force developed by a cylindrical clot made with platelet rich plasma of the same donor to serve as our “ gold standard .” the first step in manufacturing of the flexible membrane is the fabrication of a suitable immersion mold . in a preliminary phase , inventors fabricated a prototype mold from stainless steel . turning now to fig1 , the top panel is a photograph of the stainless steel immersion mold . although the embodiment shown here was manufactured from stainless steel , it could likewise be made from any other suitable material . the ball has a diameter of 9 / 16 ″ and the rod has a diameter of 3 / 32 ″, but these could be of any suitable dimension . the bottom panel shows an embodiment of the flexible membrane . this prototype was made to show the feasibility of fabrication using the immersion mold shown on top . this prototype embodiment was fabricated using urethane , but any other suitable material could be used . due to the transparency of the material it is easy to study the thickness of the membrane . the figure shows an even thickness of the material along the spherical region of the membrane . however , this fabrication technique yields an increase in thickness around the region of the neck ( white arrow ). it can be concluded from the stress analysis shown in fig8 , that the stresses on the wall are uniformly distributed along the flexible membrane , except around the point of insertion of the capillary tube . therefore , it is expected that this thicker region will not have an important impact in the performance of the retractometer . the membranes would preferably be fabricated by experts in dip molding technology , for example by acc automation ( akron , ohio ). for this application , their 4 - axis dipping system would be particularly suitable . briefly , the system has 4 axis of operation ( vertical , horizontal / pallet rotate and form spin ), allowing the membrane coating to be uniform along the surface of the mold . the equipment has a vertical stroke of 30 inches , a vertical axis speed range of 0 . 01 - 12 inch / sec , with 0 . 001 inch / sec speed increments . rotate axis positional range is 1440 degrees in 1 degree positional increments . rotate axis speed range is 0 . 1 - 60 degrees / sec in 0 . 1 degree speed increments . spin speed range is 10 - 100 rpm in 1 rpm increments . horizontal axis position is 18 inches in 0 . 01 inch positional increments . horizontal axis speed range is 0 . 01 - 4 . 0 inches / sec in 0 . 001 inches / sec / maximum payload capacity of 10 pounds . the membranes are dried in an integrated force air convection electric oven , with programmable temperature control up to 200 ° c . the forms are spun in the oven to increase drying uniformity . the membranes are fabricated using two coats of latex without thickening agent , in a similar fashion to fabricating condoms . uniformity in thickness and mechanical properties of the membranes are highly reproducible . the second step is to develop a suitable method for the filling of the membranes . in order to assure that the inner pressure of the membrane is in equilibrium with the surrounding fluid , inventors implemented a simple technique shown in fig1 . in order to avoid slippage of the clots over the membrane surface during contraction , the membranes are coated with a suitable adhesive , for example , with a bovine collagen type i suspension as described elsewhere ( 2 . 5 mg / ml in 0 . 1 m acetic acid ) ( 20 ). this method gave a firm adhesion of the clot onto latex membranes . it is expected that membranes of different materials may require other adhesives . membranes are pressure - conditioned as shown in fig1 . the flexible membrane is mounted on a sealing rubber stop with a needle inserted through it . the needle is connected to a two - way stop - cock , which in turn is connected to a syringe and another needle . the reach of both needles is the same . in a first step , the syringe is used to slightly pressurize the flexible membrane . in a second step , access to the syringe is closed and the two needles are allowed to equilibrate the inner membrane pressure and the ambient pressure by siphoning the fluids . this method is reliable in giving zero pressure readings with the use of a pressure transducer ( validyne dp 15 - 22 , controlled by a validyne cd379 ) immediately after inflation . the third step is the adjusting of the fluid level inside the capillary at “ zero pressure ” level . as seen in fig5 b , it would be desirable to control the level of the column inside the capillary to make the reading easier . the height of the column in a capillary tube is dictated by the expression : where , h is the height of the column , γ is the surface tension of the fluid , ρ is the density of the fluid , r is the radius of the capillary tube , and θ is the wetting angle . the pressure inside the flexible membrane of the retractometer , can be easily calculated with the expression δp = ρgh . in order to make the retractometer more user - friendly , it is necessary to have a good “ zero pressure ” level inside the capillary , otherwise the reading error may increase . an easy way to do this is by proper choice of the capillary radius . the possibility of changing the angle of the meniscus θ in equation d : 10 , with the following method ( 21 ). the glass capillaries are immersed in a 1 % ( w / w ) naoh water solution . the container is heated to near boiling ( bubble formation starting ) ( approx 90 ° c .) and incubated for 10 minutes . the solution is removed , and the capillaries are allowed to cool to room temperature . the capillaries are then immersed in a 30 % ( w / w ) h 2 o 2 solution , and heated to near boiling ( approx 90 ° c .) for one hour , washed five times with deionized , demineralized water , tap dried and placed in a drying oven ( 250 ° c .) for 12 hours . column heights were improved from 16 mm ( with a 0 . 75 radius , untreated capillary ) to 60 mm ( with a 0 . 5 mm radius , hydrophilic modified capillary ). the fourth step is the calibration of the retractometer and comparison of the results to an alternative , known method . in order to explore the feasibility of the methodology in the present invention , a prototype retractometer was implemented , as detailed in fig5 . for the setup of these preliminary experiments , it was decided to use a latex flexible membrane with a thickness of 150 μm . the pressure in both experiments was continuously recorded using a pressure transducer ( validyne dpi5 - 22 , controlled by a validyne cd379 ). a citrated blood sample was separated into two aliquots , one aliquot was used to prepare a platelet - rich plasma sample by centrifugation at 150 × g for 10 minutes . the other aliquot was used directly without enrichment . prior to beginning the experiment , a sample ( platelet rich plasma or blood ) was supplemented with calcium to initiate coagulation . a solution of 0 . 2 m cacl 2 at 42 μl / ml of blood and 65 μl / ml of platelet - rich plasma , the difference in volumes accounts for the inert volume occupied by red blood cells in the whole blood sample . during the experiment , samples were kept at 37 ° c . the results of these experiments are shown in fig1 . as predicted , platelet contractility results in an increase in the hydrostatic pressure inside the flexible membrane . in order to demonstrate that the increase in hydrostatic pressure shown in fig1 was indeed due to an increase in the tension on the fibrin network , the retractometer was disassembled at the end of the experiment , the membrane and the clot were immersed in a phosphate buffered saline solution to avoid drying of the sample . the membrane and the attached fibrin clot were then sectioned in rings parallel to the equator , the rings were attached to ribbons and the clots were carefully separated from the latex membrane . the rationale for the cuts was to unveil the residual stresses in the clots . cutting introduces new surfaces on which the traction is zero . cutting an unloaded body without residual stress will not cause strain . if strain changes by cutting , there is residual stress . the results shown in fig1 demonstrate the feasibility and validity of the principle of operation of the methodology . the stresses along the thickness of the clot are not uniform , due to the geometry of the retractometer . this lack of uniformity in stresses must , therefore , result in “ shearing strain ” across the thickness of the clot . this is seen macroscopically in fig1 as twisting of the clots . fig1 shows a petri dish with three sections of the clot . a digitally enhanced magnification of the three samples shown is presented for better appreciation of the process . it should be noted that the larger the deformation the larger is the residual stress . the large twisting deformation is due to the non - uniform increase in tension along the thickness of the wall of the clots . inventors decided to implement a method described by others . ( 17 ) for calibration and comparison . the method is briefly described below . cylindrical clots are obtained by pouring a human platelet - rich plasma ( prp ) suspension , immediately after thrombin addition , into cylindrical plastic molds ( 6 mm diameter and 5 cm in length ). the molds are plugged at both ends with plastic plugs . the sides of the molds are slit for easier clot extraction , but the ends meet in a manner such that drying out is prevented . after 10 minutes , the clot cylinders are poured into a petri dish containing ice cold tyrode solution to inhibit contraction . the clots are then tied at one end with a cotton thread to a rigid stainless steel support and the other end to a force transducer as described hereinabove . in order to compare the experimental results of clot retraction with the two different setups , it is helpful to link the two methods by the stress generated by platelet contraction . fig1 outlines schematically the geometry of the cylindrical clot during contraction . the contraction of the clot is considered to be isotropic ( 17 ). the force f is directly measured by the force transducer . the area a can be directly calculated from the measurement of the clot diameter . the stress ( f ) can be estimated from this simple model . assuming that the stress generated by the platelets is the same in the two retractometers , it follows from equation d : 2 and fig1 that : regarding the units of both expressions : p i is given in cm h 2 o : 1 cm h 2 o = 1 gf / cm 2 . turning now to fig1 for a comparison between the two methods used . both experiments were performed using platelet rich plasma . in order to compare the results , data are presented in terms of the stress as suggested by equation d : 11 . the solid line shows the results obtained with the cylindrical clot and the circles represent the experimental data points obtained with the method of this invention . the values calculated by equation d : 11 are highly dependent on the accurate measurement of the radii in both , the cylindrical clot system and the retractometer of this invention . immediately after the mechanical test , the clots are fixed in 1 . 25 % ( vol / vol ) glutaraldehyde diluted in 0 . 1m phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 2 ) for one hour at room temperature . the clots are then postfixed in 1 % ( wt / vol ) osmic acid containing 1 . 5 % potassium ferrocyanide for one hour at 4 ° c . subsequently , they are dehydrated using graded alcohols and propylene oxide before being embedded in epon . we have successfully used this technique to estimate the ultrastructure of fibrin clot deformation ( 22 ). this step is done only for calibration purposes and it is not intended to be used as a routine in the future . described below is an electronic circuit designed to operate the individual solenoid valves controlling the hydraulics of the communicating vessels for the embodiment shown in fig5 a . the electronic solenoid valve controller circuit is shown in fig1 . for the circuit shown here , a 10 × 16 array was implemented . the circuit labeled digital row selection is meant for an alternative computer control . when a word is written to the gain select input of the cmos circuit shown ( analog to cd4066 ), a voltage is generated at the output of the circuit , which is used to select the row on the right hand circuits . in principle , the voltage used for row selection can also be selected manually via a potentiometer part of a voltage divider . implementation of these circuits allows the operator to select the row either manually or via digital input . the operational amplifier ( row gain ) is intended to give the maximal gain of the voltage divider for row selection . the use of this is to select manually the maximal row number to be read in a given cycle . this non - inverting input of the operation amplifier ( op amp ) is amplified and sent to an a / d converter , implemented by the comparators and the priority encoder . should the control be exclusively digital , this part of the circuit is obsolete , in which case the already digital input should be sent directly to the 1 of 10 decoder ( 10 is arbitrarily chosen in this case , and the total number of rows can be different ). the final result of this architecture is that only one row is activated at a time . for column selection , inventors chose to add a timer assuming that the column selection is done in a continuous sweep . the timer shown in the lower left corner of the diagram ( fig1 ) has a feedback loop controlled by a potentiometer that allows the operator to control the sweeping rate . the output of the timer serves as the input for a 4 - bit counter , the output of the counter is input into a 1 of 16 decoder to select only one column at a time . another embodiment of an electronic solenoid valve controller of this invention is shown in fig1 . for the example shown here , an 8051 microprocessor is used . three pins of the microprocessor actuate a syringe pump . pin one is used to turn the pump on and the other two to move the pump piston either up or down . the pump is directly connected to the hydraulics ( retractometers ) of the system . the motor of the pump is connected to a voltage divider that yields a voltage used to establish the position of the piston of the pump . this readout position voltage is entered through an analog to digital ( a / d ) converter to the microprocessor . other pins of the microprocessor are connected to each one of the solenoid valves used in the array . in this example , a series of eight valves are used to measure each one of the retractometer samples and two others are used to provide protection to the system . one of the protection valves is located at the entrance of the pressure transducer , and its role is to prevent damage to the system due to the operation of the pump . the other valve is located to provide access to a fluid reservoir . this valve is used in this example to fill the syringe prior to the beginning of the experiments . the output voltage of the pressure transducer is entered into the a / d converter and subsequently to the microprocessor . for this example , the subroutines were burnt into the microprocessor . in an initial stage of operation , the microprocessor reads all initial pressures of all the samples by opening each individual sample valve , followed by opening of the protection valve . the voltage from the pressure transducer is measured and stored in the temporary memory of the microprocessor . this process is repeated until all the initial pressure values are registered . in the following cycles , the previous pressure value for the valve that will be measured is taken as the target value . then the value of the hydraulics is taken , having only the protection valve opened . the pump is then actuated ( either up or down depending on the relative value of the target pressure ) until the target pressure value is reached . the sample valve is then opened , the pressure is measured , and the sample valve is closed . the measured values are sent to a text file in a pc computer via a serial port . the new measured value for each valve becomes the next target value . these cycles are repeated until the end of the experiment . while the present invention has now been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments , and exemplified with respect thereto , one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications , changes , omissions and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit thereof . it is intended , therefore , that the present invention be limited solely by the scope of the following claims . 1 . carr , m . e . and zekert , s . l . 1991 . measurement of platelet - 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