Studies of Red Blood Cell Aggregation and Blood Oxygenation on the Basis of the Optoacoustic Effect in Biological Media

Abstract

The most important task in the field of medical diagnostics is the creation and application of new diagnostic tools and methods, as well as diagnosis of physiological processes. To solve this problem, one may use the optoacoustic (OA) effect – thermooptical excitation of acoustic waves in a liquid medium under laser radiation absorption. This study utilizes numerical methods for modeling processes of oxygen saturation and red blood cells aggregation in the blood. Models of oxygenated red blood cells and their distribution in the blood are constructed using the Monte Carlo method. The acoustic signal from oxygenated and deoxygenated red blood cells was simulated at various levels of oxygen saturation. It was found that the level of spectral power density of the acoustic signal varies significantly and allows one to estimate the percentage of oxygen saturation of red blood cells in the blood with implementation of OA method. A model for the aggregation of red blood cells, combining red blood cells into clusters by hexagonal packing, was developed to increase compactness. It was found that using the OA method, it is possible to determine the level of red blood cells aggregation and of hematocrit level.

Keywords

• photoacoustic effect
• the level of red blood cells aggregation
• monte carlo method
• spherical source