Abstract
A non-dimensional index for evaluating red blood cell deformability based on the cell motion through a microchannel is proposed here. While the transit velocity of a cell through a microchannel has been conventionally utilized for evaluating cell deformability, there are many other factors, such as the variations of cell size, flow rate and channel dimensions, could affect the transit velocity. To improve the consistency of the evaluation, dimensional analysis is performed on the microchannel evaluation system. The physical parameters that may affect cell motion in all channel are all considered based on the assumption of lubrication theory. Experimental study is conducted on red blood cells from the same subject with different flow conditions. The results show that the conventional index, the transit velocity, clearly show two different results due to the different conditions, but the proposed index can still show similar results of the same blood even with different conditions.
