Deformation of erythrocytes under shear: a small-angle light scattering study.

In this study, sharp small-angle light scattering (SALS) images of erythrocytes under increasing shear stresses in a Couette flow were obtained, and accurate measurements of the angular positions of the two first minima and maxima have been carried out. The deformed cells were assumed to be three-axis ellipsoids of constant volume for all shear stresses. Application of the Physical Optics Approximation (POA) then permitted the determination of the cell dimensions as a function of the applied shear stress. Our results agree with determinations obtained by other methods.