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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Measuring Deformability and Red Cell Heterogeneity in Blood by Ektacytometry
Published on: January 12, 2018
Abnormalities in the membrane material properties of hereditary spherocytes
1Department of Radiation Biology and Biophysics, University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, N.Y. 14642, USA.
Abstract:
Mechanical measurements of intrinsic membrane material properties are used to characterize the defect in hereditary spherocyte membrane at a continuum level. The value of the surface elastic shear modulus is two-thirds as large as normal values, and the value of the yield shear resultant is one-third as large as normal values. The viscosity of the surface above the elastic-plastic transition appears normal. Under similar geometric conditions, the force required to fragment a hereditary spherocyte is about one-third as large as the force required to fragment a normal cell.
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