THE USE OF NICKEL AND POLYCARBONATE FILTERS TO ASSESS ERYTHROCYTE FILTERABILITY IN CONTROL SUBJECTS AND DIABETIC-PATIENTS

The performance of nickel and polycarbonate micropore filters (both wi th 5mum. pore diameters) were compared using two different blood filtr ation methods in control and diabetic subjects. Significant difference s were detected between these subject groups with nickel filters but n ot with polycarbonate filters. The coefficients of variation with both filtration methods were lower with the nickel filters, possibly due t o their better pore geometry. It is concluded that Veco nickel filters are superior to Nucleopore polycarbonate filters when assessing blood filtration in clinical studies.