Red blood cell deformability indices mathematically computed from the values of hematocrit and blood viscosity

Influence of deformability of human red cells upon blood viscosity.

The viscosity of blood at high rates of shear is unusually low compared to other suspensions of similar concentration. The underlying mechanisms were studied by rotational viscometry, red cell filtration, viscometry of packed cells and direct microscopic observation of red cells under flow in a transparent cone plate viscometer. Deformability of red cells was altered osmotically or abolished by...

Analyzing red blood cell-deformability distributions.

BACKGROUND Red blood cells (RBCs) must deform to pass the smallest capillaries of the microcirculation. Available techniques for measuring RBC deformability often provide an indication of the mean deformability. The latter may be decreased either by a slight overall deformability reduction or by the presence of a small fraction of rigid cells. A distinction between these two cases can be made w...

Association of reduced red blood cell deformability and diabetic nephropathy.

BACKGROUND Impaired red blood cell deformability may play a key role in the pathogenesis of chronic vascular complications of diabetes mellitus and progression of renal failure. The present study was conducted to test whether impaired red blood cell deformability is indeed associated with development of diabetic nephropathy. METHODS We studied 57 adult type 2 diabetic patients divided into th...

The Effects of Nitric Oxide on Red Blood Cell Deformability

Measuring Deformability and Red Cell Heterogeneity in Blood by Ektacytometry.

Decreased red cell deformability is characteristic of several disorders. In some cases, the extent of defective deformability can predict severity of disease or occurrence of serious complications. Ektacytometry uses laser diffraction viscometry to measure the deformability of red blood cells subject to either increasing shear stress or an osmotic gradient at a constant value of applied shear s...