Low viscosity Ektacytometry and its validation tested by flow chamber

The flow chamber was used to observe the orientation and small deformation of red blood cells (RBCs) in a shear flow of low viscosity. With the aid of computer software, the percentage of RBCS oriented to the C = 0 orbit (OI)(F) and the degree of deformation (DI)(F) of such RBCs were calculated by processing the photographs. It was found that these parameters were highly correlated, respectively, to the orientation index (OI)(E) and the small deformation index (DI)(E) obtained by our low viscosity Ektacytometry (LVE). Thus, our flow chamber research has provided direct evidence to validate the use of this low viscosity Ektacytometry. Although there are relative merits for the flow chamber method using low viscosity medium, the LVE is more likely to be applied in clinic for its simpleness and convenience. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.