An air embolism is induced by intravascular bubbles that block the blood flow in vessels, which causes a high risk of pulmonary hypertension and myocardial and cerebral infarction. However, it is still unclear how a moving bubble is stopped in the blood flow to form an air embolism in small vessels. In this work, microfluidic experiments, in vivo and in vitro, are performed in small vessels, where bubbles are seen to deform and stop gradually in the flow. A clot is always found to originate at the tail of a moving bubble, which is attributed to the special flow field around the bubble. As the clot grows, it breaks the lubrication film between the bubble and the channel wall; thus, the friction force is increased to stop the bubble. This study illustrates the stopping process of elongated bubbles in small vessels and brings insight into the formation of air embolism.

空气栓塞是由血管内气泡阻塞血管中的血流引起的，这会导致肺动脉高压和心肌和脑梗塞的高风险。然而，目前尚不清楚一个移动的气泡是如何在血流中停止以在小血管中形成空气栓塞的。在这项工作中，体内和体外的微流体实验在小容器中进行，在那里可以看到气泡在流动中变形并逐渐停止。总是发现凝块起源于运动气泡的尾部，这归因于气泡周围的特殊流场。随着凝块的增长，它会破坏气泡和通道壁之间的润滑膜；因此，摩擦力增加以阻止气泡。