A Light Scattering Cuvette for the Measurement of Thromboemboli Type in Flowing Whole Blood

A recent light scattering cuvette has been successful in differentiating the type of microemboli in flowing whole blood. However, since the technique was designed assuming the microemboli are concentrated near the center of the scattering medium, it is necessary to investigate the effect of off-center locations on discrimination. The scattering intensities from 5 off-center locations were investigated and the type discrimination parameter (ratio of two forward scattering intensities) was calculated. The perturbation solution of radiative transport equation was used to describe the scattered intensity distribution in the scattering medium. In each location the parameter used for discrimination was not significantly altered since the overall cuvette geometry compensates for the scattered intensity' variation caused by off-center locations. Therefore, the scattering cuvette is reliable for differentiation of microemboli type.