The project

Primary haemostasis is the physiological process by which a bleeding is stopped: the vascular breach is occluded with platelet plug. The main players are platelets, collagen, a fibrillar protein present in the vessel wall and exposed to the blood in case of vessel injury, and von Willebrand factor (vWF), an adhesive protein, which can bind collagen and recruit platelets. Hemostasis disorders lead to varying degrees of bleeding tendency or excessive blood clotting. Global and realistic investigation of the platelet activity do not answer well enough the medical needs in terms of (i) metrology, (ii) diagnosis and (iii) prognosis.

The project BlooDe (Blood Device) aim to reproduce the platelets adherence and aggregation process on a collagen-like recombinant protein coated surface, within a microfluidic device. It will enable to better understand and quantify platelets and von Willebrand factor activities, and to study the interactions in play.

Each team involved provides its competences: microsystem, sensor and microfluidic : FEMTO-ST institute (Besançon) ; proteins engineering : NVH Medicinal (Dijon) ; haemostasis : UNIGE & HUG (Geneva), EFS Bourgogne Franche-Comté (Besançon), CHU of Dijon ; consel on in-vitro diagnosis test : Diagnoswiss (Monthey). The gathering and interactions between those teams will enable development of a new haemostasis test, usefull to personalized care of patients, with a whole blood sample, analysed in flow conditions, with precise and medically pertinent rheologic parameters.

Total budget: 445 373,14 €.

ERDF subsidy : 203 546,80 €.

Federal Interreg Swiss subsidy : 37 246,98 €.