Ex Vivo Blood Viscosity Monitoring with Piezoelectric MEMS Resonators

This exploratory work demonstrates the potential of plate-type piezoelectric MEMS resonators for measuring the dynamic viscosity of human blood. These micromachined silicon sensors are operated in roof-tile shaped vibrational modes, featuring high quality factors in liquids. The quality factor of the 17 vibrational mode is used in combination with a sensor calibration procedure which is based on viscosity standards to monitor this fluidic material parameter. We demonstrate, that the MEMS sensor can provide real-time viscosity data over extended periods of time, which may be of high interest in cardiovascular medicine and medical applications such as extracorporal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).