Fluid mechanics of the stagnation point flow chamber and its platelet deposition.

The interaction of flow and thrombus generation often is a crucial question for the engineer working in the field of artificial organs. However, this interaction is only incompletely known, and quantitative data under well-defined experimental conditions are especially rare. These can be attained with the stagnation point flow chamber. This flow model applies platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as fluid. Its flow conditions are assessed with the help of computational fluid mechanics. In addition, the concept of the boundary layer is introduced, which permits assessment of the platelet flow along the wall. The results of the experiment indicate that platelets are deposited at a defined shear rate.