Deformation and orientation of red blood cells in a simple shear flow. Theoretical study and approach at small angle light scattering.

On the basis of a simple theoretical model representing the rheological behaviour of the erythrocyte membrane, the authors have proceeded with a theoretical and experimental investigation on the light-scattering diagrams at small angles of normal red blood cells subjected to Couette flow. The results show that the light-scattering diagrams take into account not only cell deformation, but also cell orientation. The prospects for applying this method to the analytical separation of cells with different deformabilities are considered.