Mechanism of Red Cell Aggregation

Abstract

This chapter will discuss the mechanism of red cell aggregation as one of the predominant determinants of the flow characteristics of blood, particularly in low-flow states. If one investigates the roles of viscosity of whole blood or at least a good model of it — namely red cells suspended in human plasma anticoagulated with, for example, citrate — measurements are often made as a function of the shear rate. The shear rate itself is just a measure of how fast the blood is moving in the container, whether it be a blood vessel or the cup of a rotating viscometer. It is a measure of how fast the velocity is changing away from the wall of the container; thus it is the rate of change in velocity and it is measured in units of inverse seconds.