Red blood cell damage by shear stress for different blood types

In surgical practice, blood damage caused by medical devices is often a limiting factor in the duration of an acute procedure or in chronic exposures such as hemodialysis. In order to establish guidelines for designing medical devices, a study was conducted to determine the relationship between shear stress and damage to red blood cells using a concentric Couette device. By measuring the hemolysis level for various shear stresses and exposure times, a non-dimensional relationship between shear stress and blood damage for different blood types was established.