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**9. References** 

33-45.

**Chapter 10** 

© 2012 Park et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

© 2012 Park et al., licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

RBCs are the most deformable cell in the human body. RBC deformabiltiy is an intrinsic mechanical property determined by (1) its geometry, (2) cytoplasmic viscosity, mainly attributed to hemoglobin (Hb) solution in the cytoplasm, and (3) viscoelastic properties of

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

**Measurement Techniques for** 

**Red Blood Cell Deformability:** 

Youngchan Kim, Kyoohyun Kim and YongKeun Park

Human red blood cells (RBCs) or erythrocytes have remarkable deformability. Upon external forces, RBCs undergo large mechanical deformation without rupture, and they restore to original shapes when released. The deformability of RBCs plays crucially important roles in the main function of RBCs - oxygen transport through blood circulation. RBCs must withstand large deformations during repeated passages through the microvasculature and the fenestrated walls of the splenic sinusoids (Waugh and Evans, 1979). RBC deformability can be significantly altered by various pathophysiological conditions, and the alterations in RBC deformability in turn influence pathophysiology, since RBC deformability is an important determinant of blood viscosity and thus blood circulation. Hence, measuring the deformability of RBCs holds the key to understanding RBC related diseases. For the past years, various experimental techniques have been developed to measure RBC deformability and recent technical advances revolutionize the way we study RBCs and their roles in hematology. This chapter reviews a variety of tools for measuring RBC deformability. For each technique, we seek to provide insights how these deformability measurement techniques can improve the study of RBC

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

**Recent Advances** 

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/50698

**1. Introduction** 

pathophysiology.

**2. Deformability of RBCs** 

RBC membrane cortex structure.

**Chapter 10** 
