MEASUREMENT OF BOTH VISCOUS AND ELASTIC CONSTANTS OF A RED BLOOD CELL IN A MICROCHANNEL

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel measurement of both viscous and elastic constants of a red blood cell (RBC) in a microfluidic channel. Although simultaneous measurement of absolute values of RBC viscosity and elasticity has been difficult in a microfluidic channel so far, here we achieved it using precise feedback cell manipulation inside the microchannel According to deformed shape and theoretically estimated shear force, we first obtained Young's modulus, consistent with that obtained in the previous methods with force sensors. In addition, conducting "Loading examination" for the same RBC in the downstream of the microchannel, we succeeded in the estimation of absolute values of viscous and elastic constants of a RBC.