A note on a theoretical study of erythrocyte sedimentation

Abstract

An entire settling curve for whole blood is derived theoretically based upon Chien’s expression for the viscosity of whole blood at hematocrits in excess of 40%. This problem was already studied by Puccini et ale in 1977. The aim of this note lies in correcting a mistake found in their treatment of a differential equation. The functional form of the entire settling curve differs, of course, from that obtained by them. It is shown that the settling curve is governed by only two parameters. The comparison of our theoretical formula with experimental data is left for our future task. It is suggested that the meniscus will be curved in close neighborhood of the glass wall due to the fluid mechanical influence of the wall. The effect of the aggregation of red cells will also be taken into account in future.