Ultrasonic wave action upon the red blood cell agglutination in vitro

The ultrasonic wave action upon immune red blood cell (RBC) aggregation in vitro was investigated by means of the elastic light-scattering method. The RBC agglutination process in the ultrasonic wave presence was analysed as a function of irradiation time, the antiserum series, the whole blood and antiserum dilution degree and blood group types. It was experimentally shown that the ultrasonic irradiation accelerated the agglutination reaction in the blood and antiserum mixture. The sedimentation process showed a gain in the resolution of the optical method's ability to detect the induced RBC complex formation. It revealed that the ultrasonic application led to significant diagnostic test time shortening. The results may be used to develop new diagnostic techniques and devices. (C) 2000 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine gr Biology.