Non-Newtonian rheology of leukemic blood and plasma: are n and k parameters of power law model diagnostic?

When discussing the rheological properties of normal and leukemic blood it must be considered that blood is a suspension of cells in aqueous solution which is also known as plasma. Whole blood viscosity and plasma viscosity were determined by Rheometer LS30 which allows measuring whole blood and plasma viscosity in the middle and low shear rate ranges. The measurements of the viscosity showed that whole blood and plasma behave as non-Newtonian power law fluid. The values of n (non-Newtonian index) and k (consistency index) of power law fluid were calculated for both leukemic blood and plasma samples. The importance of this phenomenon for the micro-circulation is discussed.