Shear Mode Bulk Acoustic Viscosity Sensor for Blood Coagulation Monitoring in Oral Anticoagulant Therapy.

Frequent monitoring of blood coagulation status is essential for patients receiving treatment with some oral anticoagulant agents. In this paper, we present a microelectromechanical film bulk acoustic resonator for the measurement of blood coagulation parameters. The resonator was made of an aluminum nitride piezoelectric film and operated in thickness shear resonance mode with a frequency of about 2 GHz. The resonant frequency showed a linear relationship with the viscosity of the environmental liquid over the wide range of 1-25 cP, falling within the physiological range of human blood. The coagulation process of human blood was monitored by following the frequency downshift due to the viscosity change. Therefore, the frequency response was used to determine quantitatively three clinically significant parameters being the enzymatic cascade time, the coagulation time and the clot degree. As a practical demonstration, the proposed micro-resonator was applied to monitor coagulation for one month in a patient taking the oral anticoagulant, warfarin, daily. The results measured by the resonator were consistent with those of the standard coagulometer. As a result of the excellent potential for integration, miniaturization and the availability of direct digital signals, the shear mode film bulk acoustic resonator has promising application for clinical and personal coagulation monitoring.