Production of single pore membranes for the measurement of red blood cell deformability.

For the determination of the deformability of individual red blood cells, a measuring device was developed, simulating the passage of individual red blood cells in capillaries of the nutritive microcirculatiuon. The kernel of this device, described here, is a single pore membrane 4--6 microns in diameter and 10 to 50 microns in length. The combination of a heavy ion accelerator (containing a faster shutter system) with nuclear tract technology makes possibly the manufacture of a large number of single pore membranes necessary for clinical and pharmaceutical tests.