Is there a correlation between red cell filterability and blood viscosity measurements?

Abstract

It has always been assumed that blood viscosity at high shear rates is largely determined by red cell deformability (RCD). However the literature reporting a direct correlation between the measurements of blood viscosity and RCD is scarce. Experiments were carried out to establish the relationship between red cell filterability (RCF) and various viscosity measurements. RCF correlated best with the $\mathrm{\Delta }\mathit{\eta }$ (difference in viscosity measurements at shear rates 2.37 and 94.5s⁻¹) of concentrated, washed red cells.