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Microrheology and light transmission of blood

I. The photometric effects of red cell aggregation and red cell orientation

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Summary

The well known flow dependence of the optical density of whole blood was studied by measuring light transmission of blood in viscometric flow. A cone-plate chamber (3° cone angle) was transilluminated (λ=500–800 nm) while under shear (0–460 sec−1). The transmitted light was monitored with a selenium barrier layer photocell and was continuously recorded. In an identical chamber, the microrheological behaviour of the cells in flow was monitored by microphotography and then correlated to photometric events.

Light transmission of human blood showed a biphasic behaviour when plotted as a function of shear rate: between 0 and about 60 sec−1, the light transmission decreases with shear, corresponding to aggregate dispersion. Above 60 sec−1, an increase of light transmission with shear occurs, corresponding to red cell deformation, alignment, and orientation. Bovine blood, which does not form aggregates, shows minimum light transmission at rest. Light transmission then rises progressively with shear from the very onset of slow flow. Equine blood (equus zebra) which has very strong aggregation shows a progressive decrease of light transmission with shear due to aggregate persistence up to 460 sec−1. Amphibia blood (rana esculanta) shows very pronounced increase in light transmission at low shear rates, but no progression with shear. The nucleated amphibia erythrocytes are oriented but not deformed in flow. Rigidified cells which neither aggregate nor become oriented in flow show no flow dependent changes in light transmission. It became evident that in all blood samples minimum light transmission was recorded when the cells were dispersed and randomly oriented; both aggregation and orientation produced increased light transmission. These results explain earlier controversies in the literature, they shed doubt on the existence of a “tubular pinch effect” in whole blood rheology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiologisches Institut der Universität München, München, Germany

    H. J. Klose, E. Volger, H. Brechtelsbauer, L. Heinich & H. Schmid-Schönbein

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  1. H. J. Klose
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  2. E. Volger
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  3. H. Brechtelsbauer
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  4. L. Heinich
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  5. H. Schmid-Schönbein
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Supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

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Klose, H.J., Volger, E., Brechtelsbauer, H. et al. Microrheology and light transmission of blood. Pflügers Arch. 333, 126–139 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00586912

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