Determination of the red blood cell ability to traverse cylindrical pores

An expression relating the red blood cell (RBC) volume and membrane surface area to the pore minimum radius /maximum length which the cell is able to traverse is derived. The application of this analytical model to design/specification of filters for RBC deformability evaluation is presented. The passage of the RBC's through relatively long (10 microns or more) submicron radii pores, which the developed model demonstrates, is also discussed.