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 p rocessing the photographs. It was found that these parameters were highly c orrelated, respectively, to the orientation index (OI)(E) and the small def ormation index (DI)(E) obtained by our low viscosity Ektacytometry (LVE). T hus, our flow chamber research has provided direct evidence to validate the use of this low viscosity Ektacytometry. Although there are relative merit s for the flow chamber method using low viscosity medium, the LVE is more l ikely to be applied in clinic for its simpleness and convenience. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.