Mechanical effects on rates of hemolysis.

Empirical studies were conducted on how rates of hemolysis were influenced by mechanical factors, such as shear, turbulence, agitation, pressure fluctuation, and bubbling, in five types of experimental apparatus: rotating cylinder, rotating disks, agitated vessel, pressure pulsator, and bubble columns. Our data indicate, at least qualitatively, that an important mechanical factor controlling rates of hemolysis in practical devices, in which blood does not flow in thin channels or capillaries, is the turbulent stress in the bulk blood, rather than the shear at the blood-solid interface.