Deformation and orientation of red blood cells in a simple shear flow Theoretical study and approach at small angle light scattering

Abstract

On the basis of a simple theoretical model representing the rheological hehaviour of the erythrocyte membrane, the authors have proceeded with a theoretical and experimental investigation on the light-scattering diagrams at small angles of normal red blood cells subjected to Couette flow.

The results show that the light-scattering diagrams take into account not only cell deformation, but also cell orientation. The prospects for applying this method to the analytical separation of cells with different deformabilities are considered.

Key Words:

• Red blood cell orientation
• Deformation
• light-scattering