Functional Fluidics’ biomarkers are unique diagnostic platforms that assess the health of red blood cells.
Red Blood Cell Biomarkers
Functional Fluidics proprietary testing platforms assess key properties underpinning red blood cell function and survival.
Our biomarkers assess the health of red blood cells by replicating the environment that they experience in our bodies and providing that information to doctors and scientists allowing them to make better decisions about drug development and patient care.
Solutions for Clinical Providers, Academic, Pharma & BioTech Partners
Our proprietary biomarkers support drug validation and patient monitoring:
- Clinical Providers on the front lines caring for patients who need clinical tools to help monitor care.
- Pharmaceutical & Biotech companies developing therapies that affect the health of red blood cells
- Academics studying subjects and measurement of blood function through baseline and crisis events.


Flow Adhesion Assay
Cell adhesion is a complex mechanism involved in a variety of processes including cell migration and invasion, wound healing, tissue remodeling, and micro-vascular occlusion.
- Our Flow Adhesion Assays capture the adhesive properties of an individual’s blood cells during conditions that simulate physiologic blood flow.

Mechanical Fragility Assay
Our Mechanical Fragility Assay determines the stability of the intact red blood cell membrane, which indicates the health and ability to survive hemolytic mechanical stress which may predict survival.

Our Services
Functional Fluidics is a CLIA certified lab that offers the following services.
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Send Out Testing Services
Health care providers use our tests to aid in patient monitoring as a clinical support tool
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Contract Research Services:
Our biomarkers are used by our pharma and biotech partners to help quantify the effects of drug therapies on blood function over time.
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Other Research Assays
Functional Fluidics offers additional proprietary assays that are used by our partners to determine the effect on red blood cell health.
Flow Thrombosis Flow Adhesion Dynamic Flow Adhesion Reverse Flow Adhesion Characterization Flow Adhesion Avidity

Why Choose Functional Fluidics?
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Proprietary Lab Tests
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CLIA Certified Lab
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Complex Tests Experience
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Thought Leader Access
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Specialized Staff
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Strong Industry Relationships
Functional Fluidics Assays
Our suite of proprietary cell function assays can help validate assumptions or support clinical claims.
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Flow Adhesion of whole blood on VCAM-1 (FA-WB-VCAM)
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Flow Adhesion of whole blood on P-Selectin (FA-WB-Psel)
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Mechanical Fragility – Normoxia (MF)
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Evaluation of Longitudinal Pain Study in Sickle Cell Disease (ELIPSIS)

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by frequent and unpredictable vaso-occlusive episodes (VOEs) that produce severe pain, organ damage, and early death. Lack of reliable biomarkers to objectively define VOEs, hinders the development of clinically useful interventions to improve the care for these patients.
Functional Fluidics recently participated in a ground-breaking study involving sickle cell patients. This non-interventional, longitudinal, 6-month study aimed to develop tools to identify VOCs in SCD patients with or without health care utilization.
The study data suggest that Functional Fluidics FA-WB-VCAM assay may serve as a predictive biomarker for impending VEEs, and a monitoring biomarker to assess response to SCD-modifying therapies.
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Evaluation of Longitudinal Pain Study in Sickle Cell Disease (ELIPSIS) by Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes, Actigraphy, and Biomarkers
Functional Fluidics Biomarker Assay Featured in ELIPSIS article in American Society of Hematology (ASH) Blood Magazine
Key Points
- Feasibility of monitored out-of-hospital pain and patient-reported VOC days as endpoints for clinical trials in SCD is demonstrated.
- ePROs, actigraphy, and laboratory biomarkers enable improved identification and assessment of in-hospital and out-of-hospital VOCs.

Publications
Evaluation of Longitudinal Pain Study in Sickle Cell Disease (ELIPSIS) by Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes, Actigraphy, and Biomarkers
This non interventional, longitudinal, 6-month study aimed to develop tools to identify VOCs in SCD patients with or without health care utilization.
Red Blood Cell Mechanical Fragility as Potential Metric for Assessing Blood Damage Caused by Implantable Durable Ventricular Assist Devices: Comparison of Two Types of Centrifugal Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices.
Implantable Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs) have become a treatment of choice for patients with end-stage heart failure or cardiogenic shock, significantly increasing both survival rates and the quality of life of patients.
Individual Variability in Response to a Single Sickling Event for Normal, Sickle Cell, and Sickle Trait Erythrocytes
Hemoglobin S (Hb-S) polymerization is the primary event in sickle cell disease causing irreversible damage to red blood cell (RBC) membranes over repeated polymerization cycles.
Sevuparin blocks sickle blood cell adhesion and sickleleucocyte rolling on immobilized L-selectin in a dose dependent manner
Adhesion of sickle red blood cells (SSRBC) to the vascular endothelium may initiate and propagate vascular obstruction in sickle cell disease (SCD)
Impact of Environment on Red Blood Cell ability to Withstand Mechanical Stress.
Susceptibility of red blood cells (RBC) to hemolysis under mechanical stress is represented by RBC mechanical fragility (MF), with different types or intensities of stress potentially emphasizing different perturbations of RBC membranes
An Approach to Measuring RBC Haemolysis and Profiling RBC Mechanical Fragility
Red blood cells (RBC) can be damaged by medical products, from storage or from disease. Haemolysis (cell rupture and haemoglobin release) is often a key indicator, with mechanical fragility (MF) offering the potential to assess sub-haemolytic damage as well
Low Molecular Weight Heparin Inhibits Sickle Erythrocyte Adhesion to VCAM-1 through VLA-4 Blockade in a Standardized Microfluidic Flow Adhesion Assay
The vaso-occlusive events in sickle cell disease (SCD) begin in early childhood, warranting the need for more preventative and therapeutic interventions for those affected
Impact of the Oscillating Bead Size and Shape on Induced Mechanical Stress on Red Blood Cells and Associated Hemolysis in Bead Milling
While in circulation, red blood cells (RBC) need to elastically undergo large deformations without lysing, an ability that may be compromised by cell membrane damage.