Intermittent stops of shear reduce the mechanical damage of red blood cells.

Continuous and intermittent high shear were loaded to red blood cells in a cone and a plate rheoscope. The mechanical damage to red cells was compared for continuous and intermittent shear. The intermittent shear was achieved by alternately starting and stopping shear repeatedly. In the case of intermittent shear load, red cell damage was suppressed remarkably. To explain this effect, we introduced a phenomenological hemolysis model, which agreed reasonably with the hemolysis tests for intermittent shear flow.