title: Influence of temperature on rheology of human erythrocytes.
abstract: The effect of variation in temperature on the rheological properties of human red blood cells was studied by determining the cell deformation in response to aspiration pressure applied via a micropipette. The time history of the deformation was analyzed by the use of a Voigt viscoelastic model consisting of an elastic element (E) in parallel with a viscous element (eta). Viscosity values were obtained during the initial rapid deformation phase (phase I), the later slow deformation phase (phase II), and the recovery phase. With a rise in temperature from 0 to 45 degrees C, both E and eta values decreased. A thermotropic transition temperature was found at approximately 21 degrees C for phase I viscosity and at approximately 9 degrees C for viscosity in the recovery phase, but not for phase II viscosity. These responses to temperature variations provide insights into the viscoelastic properties of the erythrocyte membrane.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0412.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chien
mesh_terms: D004548:Elasticity; D004907:Erythrocyte Deformability; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012212:Rheology; D013696:Temperature; D014783:Viscosity