In this work, we aimed at the discrimination of mechanically impaired red blood cells (RBCs) using passive microfluidic approaches. We investigated the impact of the channel geometry on the behavior of healthy RBCs (hRBCs) and thermally rigidified RBCs (T-rRBCs) flowing in (i) a Unique and Long Constriction (ULC) and (ii) a series of Oscillating Width Constrictions (OWC). To confront the two ge...

Recent clinical trials revealed a surprisingly rapid clearance of red blood cells (RBCs) infected with malaria parasites by the spiroindolone KAE609. Here, we show that ring-stage parasite-infected RBCs exposed to KAE609 become spherical and rigid, probably through osmotic dysregulation consequent to the disruption of the parasite's sodium efflux pump (adenosine triphosphate 4). We also show th...

Sickle cell disease (SCD) refers to the inherited disorder of red blood cells (RBCs). The disorder is marked by point mutation occurring in the beta (β)-globin chain of hemoglobin. This results in the amino acid substitution of valine in place of glutamic acid at position 6 (Glu6Val) of the chain, leading to the formation of abnormal sickle hemoglobin (HbS) [1]. On exposure to low-oxygen tensio...

Red blood cells (RBCs) infected by a Plasmodium parasite in malaria may lose their membrane deformability with a relative membrane stiffening more than ten-fold in comparison with healthy RBCs leading to potential capillary occlusions. Moreover, infected RBCs are able to adhere to other healthy and parasitized cells and to the vascular endothelium resulting in a substantial disruption of normal...

In this paper, sickled red blood cells of different densities from distinct Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) patients were analyzed, using a microfluidic device based on bioimpedance sensing. Complementary to our previous work (Xu et al., 2020) demonstrating the capacity discriminate between normal and pathological cells, we investigated microcirculatory properties (RBCs) in sickle cell disease their ...

The flow properties of blood in the microcirculation depend strongly on the hematocrit (Hct), microvessel geometry, and cell properties. Previous in vitro studies have measured the radial displacement of red blood cells (RBCs) at concentrated suspensions using conventional microscopes. However, to measure the RBCs motion they used transparent suspensions of ghost red cells, which may have diffe...

Transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) is an effective therapy in surgery and critical care. Comparing to fresh RBCs, the therapeutic effect of stored RBCs is greatly limited because of its loss of NO during storage, which leads to vasodilatation dysfunction upon transfusion. So far, there is no effective solution to this problem. Here, we summarize the protective effects of Haptoglobin (Hp) in ...

Red blood cells (RBCs) deformability can be defined as the ability of the cells to deform when subjected to certain flow conditions. In this work, a microfluidic system composed of a microchannel with a hyperbolic-shaped contraction was used to investigate the effect of both diamide and glutaraldehyde on the cell deformation index (DI) of human and ovine RBCs. An adequate image analysis techniq...

Shapes and volume fractions (number and volume) of the red blood cells (RBCs) are important indicators for checking the patient cases. Microcytes, macrocytes, Elliptocytosis, oblate, and prolate are different RBCs shapes related to the blood diseases. The structure, the volume and the number of RBCs cell have direct effects on the electrical characteristics of RBCs. Many mathematical algorithms...

Anemia is characterized by less than the normal number of red blood cells (RBCs) (as a result of underproduction, increased loss, or destruction) or decreased quantity of hemoglobin (Hgb) in the blood, thereby reducing the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity.