Aggregation behavior of red blood cells in shear flow. A theoretical interpretation of simultaneous rheo-optical and viscometric measurements.

A theoretical interpretation of simultaneous viscosity measurements and light backscattering experiments is carried out in the framework of the structural model for concentrated dispersions proposed previously by one of the authors. The work is mainly focused on erythrocyte aggregation, hence spherical as well as linear aggregates (rouleaux) were considered in the modeling. A connection between the structural parameters provided by each technique is established, in particular the characteristic shear rates for break up of aggregates. Theoretical predictions were then applied to experimental data of human blood collected from patients with different diseases in a hospital data bank. Finally, we conclude that the structural modeling proposed permits a reasonably good correlation between experimental data of viscometry and light backscattering from blood samples, leading to new perspectives in the analysis of the red blood cell aggregation phenomena.