Deterministic Flow Cytometry: Rapid Erythrocyte Rheological Profiling from a Drop of Whole Blood

The loss of erythrocyte deformability (ED) is part of the etiology of a wide range of diseases. Current measures of ED are limited by the complexity of laboratory-based methods, insensitivity and the need for a venous blood draw. Here, we introduce a deterministic flow cytometry (DFC) assay for label-free measurements of the size of erythrocyte and ED. The assay can be completed within 2 min using only 10 mu L whole blood collected via finger pricking, suitable for point-of-care measurements for clinical profiling of neonates, infants and children. Our results show that the unique C-shaped DFC is a sensitive and easy-to-use tool, which can detect not only the biphasic effect of ethanol and oxidative damage of erythrocytes but also significant individual-dependent variability and dose dependence under the phenazine methosulfate (PMS) stimuli. We also demonstrated the application of DFC for the assessment of sensitive erythrocyte changes in sepsis induced rats.