The hemorheometer: a new filtration apparatus.

An increasing interest in the rheological properties of Red Blood Cell (RBC) has arisen during the last decade and the Erythrocyte Deformability (ED.) has been recognized as a crucial property at the microcirculation level. Many techniques have been proposed to measure this parameter. Whole blood techniques (such as Teitel’paper filter or Reid & Dormandy’s) may have some interest in the sense that they can be considered as a global physio-pathological test. The ehemorheometera is a new filtration apparatus which has been developped in order to perform reproductible significant E.D. measurements. It is based on the initial filtration rate of a diluted RBC suspensions through 5 ~zm Nucleopore filter pores. Only about 400 RBC pass through each pore and the measurements are made in a few seconds, this method is scarecely influenced by sedimentation effects and filter plugging. Already described I and tested in several leading Haemorheology Laboratories, the Hemorheometer is now available for research and routine work.