Probing microstructural differences that manifest in human blood after taking aspirin using thixo-elasto-visco-plastic modeling and series of physical processes

Abstract

Although prophylactic use of low dosage acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) to inhibit the effects of platelet aggregation is common, a few, if any, rheological studies validating the change in the physical and mechanical properties of human blood post-aspirin administration have been reported. Recent work modeling the rheological behavior of thixo-elasto-visco-plastic materials, such as human blood, indicates that they have all the hallmark features of a complex material, including shear-thinning, viscoelasticity, yield stress, and thixotropy. Using human blood rheological data collected on a Discovery Hybrid Rheometer, before and after a 14-day protocol of once daily 81 mg aspirin tablet, we compare the mechanical properties with the recently published enhanced thixotropic modified Horner–Armstrong–Wagner–Beris thixo-elasto-visco-plastic model and sequence of physical processes. We do so to highlight the subtle shift in mechanical properties in terms of the “liquid-like” and “solid-like” nature of blood. We will show both before and after parametric analysis, profile, and comparison, as well as the before and after aspirin elastic and viscous properties of the human blood.