Red blood cell deformability

Red blood cell deformability is one of the important factors affecting the apparent viscosity of blood and the effective perfusion of microcirculation in the body. It is also an important determinant of red blood cell life. Red blood cell deformability is determined by the inherent factors of the cell, such as the viscoelasticity of the cell membrane, the viscosity of the cytoplasm (internal viscosity), and the geometry of the cell. In addition, external factors such as flow field shear stress, pH, osmotic pressure, and temperature also have an effect on red blood cell deformation. Therefore, these external factors should be controlled when measuring red blood cell deformation. At present, there are many methods for measuring the deformability of red blood cells, which can be basically divided into two categories: the first type uses the red blood cell suspension to indirectly estimate and compare the average deformability of the red blood cell population. Such as viscosity measurement method, reverse rotation rheometer measurement method, microporous filtration method, laser diffraction method, etc .; the second type is the use of a single red blood cell to determine its deformation ability and cell membrane mechanical characteristics, such as bottom surface difference method, micropipette Method, electron spin resonance spectrum method and so on. The most widely used in China are the viscosity determination method and microporous sieve filtration method.