Abstract
The effect of erythrocytic deformability upon turbulent blood flow was studied in vitro, Fresh blood and blood composed of hardened cells from four healthy volunteers was caused to flow through a precision orifice at rates sufficient to produce turbulence. Flow was steady, with a duration of 0.5–2.5 sec. The random fluctuations of velocity indicative of turbulent flow were measured with a hot-film probe. Normal erythrocytes diminished the tendency of blood to flow in a turbulent fashion, in comparison to blood composed of hardened cells, At all Reynolds numbers studied, suspensions of normally deformable cells consistently showed lower relative intensities of turbulence than suspensions of cells made non-deformable by glutaraldehyde. The viscoelastic properties of the membranes of normal erythrocytes appeared to cause the red cells to act as an energy sink by absorbing some of the kinetic energy generated by turbulent flow. The results of this study may be of clinical significance in view of the possible pathophysiological effects of turbulent blood flow.
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