HEMOLYTIC EFFECTS OF ENERGY DISSIPATION IN FLOWING BLOOD

Typical extracorporeal circulation systems subject blood to abnormal and severe physical conditions. The local rate of mechanical hemolysis under such conditions is postulated to be a function of the local rate of mechanical energy dissipation. This hypothesis was tested by examining the rates of hemolysis in four types of flow. The average rate of hemolysis is expressed as a power function of the average dissipation rate. In the absence of cavitation, the lysis rate in all four cases depends on the average dissipation rate raised to the 1·2 power. The constant of proportionality in each case, however, depends on the spatial distribution of dissipation. The more non-uniform the dissipation, the greater the hemolysis rate for the same average dissipation rate. No statistical correlation was found between the tendency of a particular blood to lyse osmotically and the tendency to lyse mechanically. © 1969 International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering.