Spinability of respiratory mucous. Validation of a new apparatus: the Filancemeter.

Spinability is the ability of various biological fluids to be drawn into threads when stretched. This rheological parameter is of particular importance in the mucous transport process and can be easily measured using a newly commercialized apparatus: the Filancemeter. The measurement limits and the volumes of the samples used are presented. By studying the effect of sample volume on spinability, the importance of using well-calibrated samples is demonstrated. For the small volumes of sample (less than 5 microliters), the reproducibility of the measurement is low (coefficient of variation: 63% with 1 microliter sample), whereas it is significantly improved with larger volumes (coefficient of variation: 16% with 5 microliters sample). The measurements on respiratory mucous are in good agreement with the results obtained with a previous apparatus using a clip as a prehension system of the sample. With fluids exhibiting low viscosity like saliva, the higher values obtained with the Filancemeter can be attributed to a better prehension of the sample. This apparatus appears to be suitable for measuring the spinability of various biological fluids such as mucous.