Optical tweezers technique for the study of red blood cells deformation ability

Abstract

The presented here technique is developed for in vitro estimation of the influence of external conditions on the deformation ability of human red blood cells. The method is based on the use of single-beam laser trap for capturing of erythrocytes fixed to the bottom of the liquid cell by the adhesion force. The approach is suitable for evaluation of the properties of individual cells as well as for real-time acquisition of the data on ensemble of erythrocytes large enough for subsequent statistical analysis. It is shown that both a change in the saline solution concentration and presence of certain stabilizing agents lead to measurable shift of the maximum of the cells distribution by their deformability.