Physical basis of the dependence of blood viscosity on tube radius

Two theories are applied to measurements of the decrease in apparent viscosity of blood in narrow tubes (Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect). First, the effect may be attributed to the presence of unsheared laminae in the fluid (sigma phenomenon), and it was found that the thickness of such laminae must vary between 3.5 µ at 10% hematocrit and 34 µ at 80%. Alternatively, the effect may be caused by a cell-free marginal zone adjacent to the tube wall, which would have to be 6 µ thick at 10% hematocrit and 1.5 µ at 80%. There is a slight suggestion in the data that the effect may be reversed as the flow rate approaches zero (i.e. the apparent viscosity rises in small tubes). Finally, a method is proposed for calculating the effective diameter of a vascular bed, and it was found to be 55 µ for a dog's hind limb.