Newly developed initial-flow cell filtrometer and the comparison with viscometry and ektacytometry on erythrocyte...

According to Hanss's initial-flow rate method, F. Liao designed a new cell filtrometer in the early 1990s. The parameters, cell initial transit time (Tc) and membrane clogging rate (CR), can be determined by a single measurement with timing accuracy of 1 ms. The new cell filtrometer has two valuable features: a button-pushing operation to control electromagnetic valves; and an autocirculation of fluid in the cell filtrometer resulting in the same volume of leading fluid. A series of comparisons of the new filtrometry with viscometry or ektacytometry shows that the instrument seems to be more sensitive in detecting subpopulations of glutaraldehyde-hardened cells and the shift of deformability for all the cells. The reproducibility of the filtrometer for different membranes made in China and the USA is reasonable (CV < 5% for Tc). Preliminary application of the filtrometer indicates that it might be useful for trial study and routine clinical application.