In vitro and in vivo measurement of red cell velocity with epi- and transillumination.

Measurement of red cell velocity with the dual-slit cross-correlation method in glass capillary tubes during transillumination indicates that the measured velocity must be divided by a correction factor of approximately 1.6 to equal the average velocity calculated from a known flow and inner diameter. Whether the same correction factor exists when red cell velocity is measured during epiillumination is questionable. Red cell velocity was measured with the dual-slit correlation method nearly simultaneously using epi- (EL) and transillumination (TL) while glass tubes (40-100 microns, i.d.) were pump perfused with whole human blood (hematocrit 39-42%). With TL, the measured velocity is 1.58 +/- 0.07 (SEM) times the calculated average velocity, whereas a factor of 2.04 +/- 0.04 (SEM) was obtained with epiillumination. When intestinal arterioles with approximately the same inner diameters and flow velocities as the glass tubes were used, the ratio of velocities measured with TL to EL was 1.21 +/- 0.02 (SEM) as compared to 1.31 +/- 0.09 (SEM) for glass tubes using TL and EL of the tube at the same pump flow. This similarity of TL to EL velocity ratios for glass tubes and microvessels may be fortuitous or indicate that comparable flow properties and measurement conditions exist for in vitro and in vivo situations. The major finding of the study is, however, that different velocity correction factors exist for EL and TL measurements when the dual-slit correlation method is used to estimate red cell velocities in tubes of an internal diameter of 40-100 microns at normal hematocrits.