Measurement of the temperature-dependent threshold shear-stress of red blood cell aggregation.
Red blood cell (RBC) aggregation is becoming an important hemorheological parameter, which typically exhibits temperature dependence. Quite recently, a critical shear-stress was proposed as a new dimensional index to represent the aggregative and disaggregative behaviors of RBCs. The present study investigated the effect of the temperature on the critical shear-stress that is required to keep RBC aggregates dispersed. The critical shear-stress was measured at various temperatures (4, 10, 20, 30, and 37 degrees C) through the use of a transient microfluidic aggregometry. The critical shear-stress significantly increased as the blood temperature lowered, which accorded with the increase in the low-shear blood viscosity with the lowering of the temperature. Furthermore, the critical shear-stress also showed good agreement with the threshold shear-stress, as measured in a rotational Couette flow. These findings assist in rheologically validating the critical shear-stress, as defined in the microfluidic aggregometry.
School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Republic of Korea.
Hyun-Jung
HJ
Lim
Jeong-Hun
JH
Nam
Yong-Jin
YJ
Lee
Sehyun
S
Shin
D002449:Cell Aggregation / Q000502:physiology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D033081:Shear Strength; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013696:Temperature