• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4E
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• pp.159-165
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• 2006

Human, horse and rat bloods in a cylindrical chamber where flow was controlled by a stirring magnet were used for studying red blood cell aggregation. Ultrasound backscattered powers from blood were obtained from the backscattered signals measured by a 5 MHz focused transducer in a pulse-echo setup. The experimental results showed the differences in red blood cell (RBC) aggregation tendency among the three mammalian species with an order of horse > human > rat. The ultrasound backscattered power decreased with stirring speed in human and horse blood, but no variations were observed in rat blood. Sudden flow stoppage led to the slow increase of the backscattered power for human and horse blood. There was no self-aggregation tendency in rat blood. The enveloped echo images showed the spatial and temporal variations of RBC aggregations in the cylindrical chamber. These observations from the different mammalian species may give a better understanding of the mechanism of RBC aggregation.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.117-123
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• 2005

Background: Reduced deformability of red blood cells (RBCs) may play an important role on the pathogenesis of chronic vascular complications of diabetes mellitus. However, available techniques for measuring RBC deformability often require washing process after each measurement, which is not optimal for day­to-day clinical use at point of care. The objectives of the present study are to develop a device and to delineate the correlation of impaired RBC deformability with diabetic nephropathy. Methods: We developed a disposable ektacytometry to measure RBC deformability, which adopted a laser diffraction technique and slit rheometry. The essential features of this design are its simplicity (ease of operation and no moving parts) and a disposable element which is in contact with the blood sample. We studied adult diabetic patients divided into three groups according to diabetic complications. Group I comprised 57 diabetic patients with normal renal function. Group II comprised 26 diabetic patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). Group III consisted of 30 diabetic subjects with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on hemo-dialysis. According to the renal function for the diabetic groups, matched non-diabetic groups were served as control. Results: We found substantially impaired red blood cell deformability in those with normal renal function (group I) compared to non-diabetic control (P = 0.0005). As renal function decreases, an increased impairment in RBC deformability was found. Diabetic patients with chronic renal failure (group II) when compared to non-diabetic controls (CRF) had an apparently greater impairment in RBC deformability (P = 0.07). The non-diabetic cohort (CRF), on the other hand, manifested significant impairment in red blood cell deformability compared to healthy: control (P = 0.0001). Conclusions: The newly developed slit ektacytometer can measure the RBC deformability with ease and accuracy. In addition, progressive impairment in cell deformability is associated with renal function loss in all patients regardless of the presence or absence of diabetes. In diabetic patients, early impairment in RBC deformability appears in patients with normal renal function.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.1681-1685
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• 2012

A sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method was developed to determine valproic acid in human red blood cell (RBC). It is important to measure the drug concentration of the RBC as well as that of the plasma because of drug partitioning for pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study. The method was linear over the dynamic range of 1-100 ${\mu}g$/mL with a correlation coefficient $r$ = 0.9997. The linearity of this method was established from 1 to 100 ${\mu}g$/mL for valproic acid in red blood cell with accuracy and precision within 15% at all concentrations. The intra-run and inter-run assay accuracy and coefficient of variations are all within 15% for all QC samples prepared in plasma and red blood human samples. Then, valproic acid amount by protein precipitation in plasma was quantified by LC-MS/MS mass spectrometry. The distribution ratio of VPA in RBC and plasma was analyzed by clinical samples. Based on measurement of the valproic acid in human red blood cell, this method has been applied to clinical research for study of distribution ratio of valproic acid in blood.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.1510-1515
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• 2004

Aggregability of red blood cells (RBCs) was determined by a laser backscattering light analysis in a microfluidic channel. Available techniques for RBC aggregation often adopt a rotational Couette-flow using bob-and-cup system for disaggregating RBCs, which causes the system to be complex and expensive. A disposable microfluidic channel and vibration generating mechanism were used in the proposed new detection system for RBC aggregation. Prior to measurement, RBC aggregates in a blood sample were completely disaggregated by applying vibration-induced shear. With the present apparatus, the aggregation indexes of RBCs can be easily measured with small quantities of blood sample. The measurements with the present aggregometer were compared with those of LORCA and showed a strong correlation between them. The aggregability of the defibrinogenated blood RBCs is markedly lower than that of the normal RBCs. The noble feature of this design is the vibration-induced disaggregation mechanism, which enables to incorporate disposable element that holds the blood sample.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.103-108
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• 2020

RBC (red blood cell) deformability is one of factors inducing blood shear thinning effect. Reduction of RBC deformability increases blood viscosity in high shear region. In this study, 3D printed chip with proper distribution of wall shear rate (WSR) was proposed to measure RBC deformability of blood samples. To fabricate 3D printed chip, the design of 3D printed chip determined through numerical simulation was modified based on the resolution of the 3D printer. For the estimation of pressure drop in the 3D printed chip, two bypass outlets with low and high WSR are exposed to atmospheric pressure through the needles. By positioning the outlet of needles in the gravity direction, the formation of droplets at bypass outlets can be captured by smartphone. Through image processing and fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis, the frequency of droplet formation was analyzed. Since the frequency of droplet formation is related with the pressure at bypass, high pressure drop caused by reduction of RBC deformability can be estimated by monitoring the formation of blood droplets using the smartphone.

• International Journal of Vascular Biomedical Engineering
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.4-12
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• 2003

The present study investigated the effect of transverse vibration on the hemorheological characteristics of blood using a newly designed pressure-scanning capillary viscometer. As vibration was applied, aggregated blood cells (rouleaux) were disaggregated. The range of vibration frequency and amplitude are $0{\sim}100\;Hz$ and $0{\sim}0.8\;mm$, respectively for a capillary diameter 0.84 mm. As vibration increased, blood viscosity initially increased and tended to decrease. In order to delineate the unexpected results, the present study proposed two counteracting mechanisms of vibration related with red blood cell (RBC) aggregation affecting hemo-rheological properties. One is the reduction of RBC aggregation due to vibration causing an increase of blood viscosity. The other is forced cell migration due to the transverse vibration, which in turn forms a cell-free layer near the tube wall and causes a decrease of flow resistance.

• International Journal of Vascular Biomedical Engineering
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.30-35
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• 2003

Flow characteristics of blood flow in a micro channel were investigated experimentally using a micro-PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) velocity field measurement technique. The main objective of this study was to understand the real blood flow in micron-sized blood vessels. The Reynolds number based on the hydraulic diameter of micro-channel for deionized (DI) water was about Re=0.34. For each experimental condition, 100 instantaneous velocity fields were captured and ensemble-averaged to get the spatial distributions of mean velocity. In addition, the motion of RBC (Red Blood Cell) was visualized with a high-speed CCD camera. The captured flow images of nano-scale fluorescent tracer particles in DI water were clear and gave good velocity tracking-ability. However, there were substantial velocity variations in the central region of real blood flow in a micro-channel due to the presence of red blood cells.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.85-90
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• 2004

The present study investigated the deformability of red blood cells (RBC) and its effect on whole blood viscosity using a laser-diffraction slit-rheometer (LDSR). The LDSR has been recently developed with significant advances in laser-diffractometry design, operation and data analysis. While shear stress levels in a slit flow are continuously decreasing, both the deformation of red blood cells and the shear stress were simultaneously measured. Additionally, the viscosity of whole blood was measured using the LDSR. The present study found that the whole blood viscosity is strongly dependent on the RBC deformability. The less deformable the RBCs are, the higher the blood viscosity is.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.151-162
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• 2005

Hemangioma is the most common benign tumor of the liver, with a prevalence estimated as high as 7%. Tc-99m red blood cell (RBC) hepatic blood pool scan with single photon omission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging is extremely useful for the confirmation or exclusion of hepatic hemangiomas. The classic finding of absent or decreased perfusion and increased blood pooling ("perfusion/blood pool mismatch") is the key diagnostic element in the diagnosis of hemangiomas. The combination of early arterial flow and delayed blood pooling ("perfusion/blood pool match") is shown uncommonly. In giant hemangioma, filling with radioactivity appears first in the periphery, with progressive central fill-in on sequential RBC blood pool scan. However, the reverse filling pattern, which begins first in the center with progressive peripheral filling, is also rarely seen. Studies with false-positive blood pooling have been reported infrequently in nonhemangiomas, including hemangiosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatic adenoma, and metastatic carcinomas (adenocarcinoma of the colon, small cell carcinoma of the lung, neruroendocrine carcinoma). False-negative results have been also reported rarely except for small hemagniomas that are below the limits of spatial resolution of gamma camera.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.36-40
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• 2016

Red blood cell (RBC) alloimmunization results from genetic disparity of RBC antigens between donor and recipients. The discrepancy of RBC antibody screening test occurs when the results of red cell tests do not agree with those of the serum test. In order to select the proper blood units for transfusion, clarification of the cause of discrepancies is essential. The RBC antibody screening test is an easy, quick, and reliable method for detection of clinically significant antibodies. Antibody screening and identification is recommended prior to transfusion to determine whether there is blood group incompatibility. We reported that phenotyping for E, D, M, E+c, and C+e antibody screening test should be extended. Therefore, these results indicate that anti-D and anti-E alloantibodies were major risk factors for haemolytic disease of the newborn or delayed haemolytic transfusion reactions in this study population. We suggested that its antibody screening be adapted to blood safety interventions. Targeted screening of selected recipients at risk offers less value than universal antibody screening, and more research is needed to determine the real incidence of this national condition.