A method for the measurement of the red blood cell deformability

Abstract

For the determination of the ability of erythrocytes to deform but not to flow in the microcirculation, the method proposed primarily by Braasch [1] was essentially improved. A measuring device was constructed with which it is possible to produce a histogram of the passage times of a population of erythrocytes through a narrow pore in a membrane. With this apparatus we are able to quantify even discreet changes of the deformability. With this method, we measured the pore passage time of normal red blood cells and cells which are treated with Ca⁺⁺. A part of the erythrocytes damaged through Ca⁺⁺ were treated with pentoxifylline to quantify the improvement of deformability. For comparing with the data cited above, the deformability of patients with acute cerebral insult was determined.