[Rheological behavior of blood substitutes with a perfluorocarbon base]

Oxygen uptake and desoxygenation in blood take place in the capillary system of the organism so that flow characteristics of blood substitutes should be adapted to that of microcirculation. Therefore, appropriate viscosity of blood substitutes is required. In addition to this, studies on the viscosity of blood substitutes made on the basis of perfluorocarbons are also of interest for considering the deemulsificability during circulation. Viscosity measurements carried out on highly polymerized dextran solutions determining the colloid osmotic pressure in blood substitutes, perfluorocarbon emulsions as oxygen carriers, blood as well as mixtures of these components showed that the rheological behaviour of blood substitutes examined did not lead to organic disorders.