Shevkoplyas Sergey S, Yoshida Tatsuro, Gifford Sean C, Bitensky Mark W
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington St., Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Lab Chip. 2006 Jul;6(7):914-20. doi: 10.1039/b601554a. Epub 2006 May 3.
The ability of red blood cells (RBCs, erythrocytes) to deform and pass through capillaries is essential for continual flow of blood in the microvasculature, which ensures an adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients, prompt removal of metabolic waste products, transport of drugs and hormones, and traffic of circulating cells to and from all living tissues. This paper presents a novel tool for evaluating the impact of impaired deformability of RBCs on the flow of blood in the microvasculature by directly measuring perfusion of a test microchannel network with dimensions and topology similar to the real microcirculation. The measurement of microchannel network perfusion is compared with RBC filtration -- a conventional assay of RBC deformability. In contrast to RBC filterability, network perfusion depends linearly on RBC deformability modulated by graded exposure to glutaraldehyde, showing a higher sensitivity to small changes of deformability. The direct measurement of microchannel network perfusion represents a new concept for the field of blood rheology and should prove beneficial for basic science and clinical applications.
红细胞（RBCs，即红细胞）的变形能力以及穿过毛细血管的能力对于微血管系统中血液的持续流动至关重要，这确保了氧气和营养物质的充足供应、代谢废物的迅速清除、药物和激素的运输，以及循环细胞在所有活组织之间的流通。本文介绍了一种新型工具，通过直接测量尺寸和拓扑结构与真实微循环相似的测试微通道网络的灌注情况，来评估红细胞变形能力受损对微血管系统中血液流动的影响。将微通道网络灌注的测量结果与红细胞过滤（一种传统的红细胞变形能力检测方法）进行了比较。与红细胞过滤能力不同，网络灌注线性依赖于通过分级暴露于戊二醛来调节的红细胞变形能力，对变形能力的微小变化表现出更高的敏感性。微通道网络灌注的直接测量代表了血液流变学领域的一个新概念，并且应该对基础科学和临床应用有益。
