Newly developed initial‐flow cell filtrometer and the comparison with viscometry and ektacytometry on erythrocyte deformability

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Peng, Jian | Liao, Fu‐long | Yin, Xiao‐jie

Affiliations: Pharmacology Department, Chinese Institute of Materia Medica, China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700, China

Abstract: According to Hanss’s initial‐flow rate method, F. Liao designed a new cell filtrometer in the early 1990s. The parameters, cell initial transit time (T_{\rm c}) and membrane clogging rate (CR), can be determined by a single measurement with timing accuracy of 1 ms. The new cell filtrometer has two valuable features: a button‐pushing operation to control electromagnetic valves; and an autocirculation of fluid in the cell filtrometer resulting in the same volume of leading fluid. A series of comparisons of the new filtrometry with viscometry or ektacytometry shows that the instrument seems to be more sensitive in detecting subpopulations of glutaraldehyde‐hardened cells and the shift of deformability for all the cells. The reproducibility of the filtrometer for different membranes made in China and the USA is reasonable ({\rm CV}<5% for T_{\rm c}). Preliminary application of the filtrometer indicates that it might be useful for trial study and routine clinical application.

Journal: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 18, no. 2-3, pp. 117-124, 1998