Here we present techniques to measure red cell deformability and cellular heterogeneity by ektacytometry. These techniques are applicable to general investigations of red cell deformability and specific investigations of blood diseases characterized by the presence of both rigid and deformable red cells in circulation, such as sickle cell anemia.
Parrow, N. L., Violet, P., Tu, H., Nichols, J., Pittman, C. A., Fitzhugh, C., Fleming, R. E., Mohandas, N., Tisdale, J. F., Levine, M. Measuring Deformability and Red Cell Heterogeneity in Blood by Ektacytometry. J. Vis. Exp. (131), e56910, doi:10.3791/56910 (2018).