Relative efficacy of filtrometers used to measure erythrocyte deformability

Abstract

A comparison of the relative efficacy of three commercial filtrometers (Hemorheometre, St. George’s Filtrometer and Cell Transit Analyser) for the measurement of erythrocyte deformability has been made in vitro using six test models (osmotic stress, thermal injury, cell density, sickle cells, diamide-treated cells, and valinomycin-dehydrated cells). The Cell Transit Analyser provided more information on the flow times of individual erythrocytes but showed lower sensitivity, compared with the initial-flow-rate Hemorheometre and St. George’s filtrometers, for the detection of whole populations and sub-populations of poorly deformable erythrocytes. The higher sensitivity of the two initial-flow-rate filtrometers is derived from their ability to detect the cumulative effect of slow-flowing and pore-clogging cells. For clinical studies, it is therefore important to select a filtrometer that is sensitive to the rheological parameters of the cell populations to be studied.