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Decoupling Directed and Passive Motion in Dynamic Systems: Particle Tracking Microrheology of Sputum

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Abstract

Probing the physical properties of heterogeneous materials is essential to understand the structure, function and dynamics of complex fluids including cells, mucus, and polymer solutions. Particle tracking microrheology is a useful method to passively probe viscoelastic properties on micron length scales by tracking the thermal motion of beads embedded in the sample. However, errors associated with active motion have limited the implementation to dynamic systems. We present a simple method to decouple active and Brownian motion, enabling particle tracking to be applied to fluctuating heterogeneous systems. We use the movement perpendicular to the major axis of motion in time to calculate rheological properties. Through simulated data we demonstrate that this method removes directed motion and performs equally well when there is no directed motion, with an average percent error of <1%. We use this method to measure glycerol–water mixtures to show the capability to measure a range of materials. Finally, we use this technique to characterize the compliance of human sputum. We also investigate the effect of a liquefaction agent used to prepare sputum for diagnostic purposes. Our results suggest that the addition of high concentration sodium hydroxide increases sample heterogeneity by increasing the maximum observed creep compliance.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. Bela Suki for helpful comments on the manuscript. The authors thank Suchismita Paul for access to sputum samples. The research was in part was supported by funding from the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH funded program (P30 AI060354) to D.B.T and the United States Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity under Grant W81XWH-10-2-0161 to S.M.F and NIH grant (1 RC2 CA147925) to MHZ.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 36 Cummington St, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Erika J. Fong, Yasha Sharma, Brian Fallica & Muhammad H. Zaman

  2. Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Dylan B. Tierney & Sarah M. Fortune

Authors
  1. Erika J. Fong
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  2. Yasha Sharma
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  3. Brian Fallica
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  4. Dylan B. Tierney
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  5. Sarah M. Fortune
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  6. Muhammad H. Zaman
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Correspondence to Muhammad H. Zaman.

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Associate Editor Michael R. King oversaw the review of this article.

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Fong, E.J., Sharma, Y., Fallica, B. et al. Decoupling Directed and Passive Motion in Dynamic Systems: Particle Tracking Microrheology of Sputum. Ann Biomed Eng 41, 837–846 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0721-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0721-2

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