Red blood cell (RBC) aggregation is of prime importance in vivo and in vitro for low flow rates. It may be estimated by rheometrical measurements at low shear rates, but these are perturbed by slip and migrational effects which have already been highlighted in the past. These effects lead to a torque decay with time so that the true value of the stress at low shear rates may be greatly underestimated. Elevated aggregation being associated with different diseases, pathological blood samples show more pronounced perturbing effects and a strong time dependency in low shear rate rheometry.
To test the dependence of slip and migrational effects on RBC aggregation, and particularly to determine the way in which they depend upon fibrinogen concentration ([Fb]), a home‐made measuring system with roughened internal and external walls (170
$\mu$
m roughness) was used to study low shear rate rheometry for RBC suspensions in PBS buffer containing albumin (at 50 g/l) and fibrinogen at various concentrations. The influences of hematocrit, shear rate, and fibrinogen concentration were investigated. Particular attention was paid to data acquisition at low shear rates (
$10^{-3}$
s
$^{-1}$
to
$3\times10^{-2}$
s
$^{-1}$
). The combined influence of hematocrit and fibrinogen was investigated by adjusting hematocrit to 44 or 57% and fibrinogen concentration ([Fb]) to 3.0–4.5–6.5 g/l. Microscopic observations of the blood samples at rest were performed. They showed that different structures were formed according to fibrinogen concentration. The rheometrical measurements indicated that torque decay with shearing duration was strongly dependent on fibrinogen concentration and on shear rate at fixed hematocrit. Migrational and slip effects were more pronounced as shear rate decreased, fibrinogen concentration was raised, and hematocrit was lowered. The results have been explained on the basis of the expected microstructure of flowing blood in relation to the microscopic observations at rest.
