The article deals with an idea of exploiting an acoustic shear wave biosensor for investigating the glycocalyx, a polysaccharide polymer molecule layer on the endothelium of blood vessels that, according to recent studies, plays an important role in protecting against diseases. To test this idea, a mathematical model of an acoustic shear wave sensor and corresponding software developed earlier for proteomic applications are used. In this case, the glycocalyx is treated as a layer homogenized over the thin polymer "villi". Its material characteristics depend on the density, thickness, and length of the villi and on the viscous properties of the surrounding liquid (blood plasma). It is proved that the model used has a good sensitivity to the above parameters of the villi and blood plasma. Numerical experiments performed using real data collected retrospectively from premature infants show that the use of acoustic shear wave sensors may be a promising approach to investigate properties of glycocalyx-like structures and their role in prematurity.
Keywords: acoustic sensor; endothelial glycocalyx; preterm infants; shear waves.