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Erythrocyte sedimentation: Fracture and collapse of a high-volume-fraction soft-colloid gel

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 نشر من قبل Alexis Darras
 تاريخ النشر 2021
  مجال البحث فيزياء
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The erythrocyte sedimentation rate is one of the oldest medical diagnostic methods whose physical mechanisms remain debatable up to date. Using both light microscopy and mesoscale cell-level simulations, we show that erythrocytes form a soft-colloid gel. Furthermore, the high volume fraction of erythrocytes, their deformability, and weak attraction lead to unusual properties of this gel. A theoretical model for the gravitational collapse is developed, whose predictions are in agreement with detailed macroscopic measurements of the interface velocity.



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