Developing a new sensor to measure blood flow in blood vessels

Novel nanosensors for real time determination of shear stress experienced by the endothelial surface layer – development, validation, and use in growing vasculature

Dr Kenton Arkill and his team at the University of Nottingham are developing a new tool to help researchers measure the force of blood flowing through blood vessels to better understand how blood vessels work and what goes wrong in cardiovascular disease. Blood vessels detect blood flowing through them using sensors that sit on the membrane of the endothelial cells that form their inner lining. These tiny sensors detect the force applied as fluid drags across the endothelial cells. Dr Arkill has developed a tiny glowing sensor around 10,000 times thinner than a human hair that sticks to the surface of endothelial cells and measures the force on the cell. This remarkable new tool could help researchers understand how new blood vessels form and how blood vessels become wider or narrower in response to blood flow. So far the researchers have used powerful optical microscopes to detect and test this nanosensor prototype on live cells in the lab. This BHF funding will allow Dr Arkill and his team to develop this prototype into a full-blown nanosensor research tool. They will study the prototype in rats and mice to find out if it can help determine how blood vessels sense their environment. They will then also work out if certain drugs affect blood flow. The nanosensor research tool will help researchers answer questions that could ultimately help develop drugs to treat blood vessel disease.