History and future of hemorheology: From Reykjavik to Lisboa

Abstract

The word "Biorheology" was introduced in 1948 during the first international congress on Rheology but "hemorheology" was first employed in 1951 during a meeting of the American Institute of Physics. Basically this science is related to physics and mechanics. The first international conference devoted to hemorheology was organized by AL Copley in Reykjavik (Iceland) in July 1969 and an International Society on Hemorheology was created. But after Reykjavik this society was named "International Society of Biorheology". The term "Clinical Hemorheology" was proposed in Nancy in 1979 which was named "First European Symposium on Clinical Hemorheology" and an European Coordinating Committee on Clinical Hemorheology (ECCCH) was created. The European Society on Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation was in fact created in Frankfurt in 1990 initiated by Albrecht Ehrly. In Nancy it was also decided to create a European Award named "Fahraeus Medal". After Nancy, the ECCCH and the European Society organized symposia in London, Baden Baden, Sienna, Frankfurt, Bordeaux, ... , Sofia ... and now Lisboa. Now it is necessary to give new directions for the development of Hemorheology and Clinical Hemorheology. Different ways can be considered:-Development of new theoretical models which take into account the heterogeneity of blood and blood vessel-Research on cell mechanobiology and mechanotransduction (leucocyte, endothelial and smooth muscle cells)-Study of cellular interactions (aggregation, adhesion, ...) and intracellular transport-Membrane rheology and concept of molecular fluidity-Dynamic blood coagulation in relation with molecular reactions-Development of metrology for clinical hemorheology.