Measurement of red cell deformability and whole blood viscosity using laser-diffraction slit rheometer

The present study investigated the deformability of red blood cells (RBC) and its effect on whole blood viscosity using a laser-diffraction slit-rheometer (LDSR). The LDSR has been recently developed with significant advances in laser-diffractometry design, operation and data analysis. While shear stress levels in a slit flow are continuously decreasing, both the deformation of red blood cells and the shear stress were simultaneously measured. Additionally, the viscosity of whole blood was measured using the LDSR. The present study found that the whole blood viscosity is strongly dependent on the RBC deformability. The less deformable the RBCs are, the higher the blood viscosity is.