Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, 110 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Sci Rep. 2018 Nov 14;8(1):16794. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-34600-7.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder associated with severe anemia, vessel occlusion, poor oxygen transport and organ failure. The presence of stiff and often sickle-shaped red blood cells is the hallmark of SCD and is believed to contribute to impaired blood rheology and organ damage. Most existing measurement techniques of blood and red blood cell physical properties require sample contact and/or large sample volume, which is problematic for pediatric patients. Acoustic levitation allows rheological measurements in a single drop of blood, simultaneously eliminating the need for both contact containment and manipulation of samples. The technique shows that the shape oscillation of blood drops is able to assess blood viscosity in normal and SCD blood and demonstrates an abnormally increased viscosity in SCD when compared with normal controls. Furthermore, the technique is sensitive enough to detect viscosity changes induced by hydroxyurea treatment, and their dependence on the total fetal hemoglobin content of the sample. Thus this technique may hold promise as a monitoring tool for assessing changes in blood rheology in sickle cell and other hematological diseases.
镰状细胞病（SCD）是一种遗传性血液疾病，与严重贫血、血管阻塞、氧气输送不良和器官衰竭有关。僵硬且通常呈镰状的红细胞的存在是 SCD 的标志，并被认为导致血液流变性受损和器官损伤。大多数现有的血液和红细胞物理特性的测量技术需要样本接触和/或大量样本体积，这对于儿科患者来说是有问题的。声悬浮允许在一滴血液中进行流变学测量，同时消除了对接触和样本操作的需求。该技术表明，血滴的形状振荡能够评估正常和 SCD 血液的血液粘度，并证明与正常对照相比，SCD 中的粘度异常增加。此外，该技术足够灵敏，可以检测羟基脲治疗引起的粘度变化，以及它们对样本总胎儿血红蛋白含量的依赖性。因此，该技术可能有望成为一种监测工具，用于评估镰状细胞病和其他血液疾病中血液流变性的变化。
