Tiny Forces in Blood Determine Flow Resistance

A German-American team of physicists are the first to calculate the impact of adhesive forces between red blood cells on the flow behaviour of blood

Jülich, 11 July 2011 – Red blood cells attract each other, but the forces at work in doing so are tiny. They are around ten million times smaller than the force created by the weight of a mosquito who has landed. Nevertheless, these forces determine the flow resistance of blood as shown by a German-American team of physicists for the first time. The scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and two research institutions in the USA present these findings and the results of their other calculations of the physical properties of blood in the current edition of "PNAS".

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