On biorheology: Joint plenary lecture

Abstract

Descriptions of biorheological phenomena go back into antiquity, but studies of flow properties of living matter began probably with the discovery of the circulation in blood capillary vessels byMalpighi in 1686 and the streaming in plant cells byCorti in 1774. Biorheology comprizes the study of the deformation and flow of living organisms and inanimate biological systems or of materials directly derived from living organisms. The term biorheology was introduced in 1948 (A. L. Copley, Proc. Internat. Congress on Rheology, Scheveningen, Holland, 1948, North-Holland Publ. Co., Amsterdam and Interscience Publishers, New York, 1949, Vol. 1, p. 47). Ever since, biorheology offered a framework to connect the sciences of biology with rheology. This frame, which proved to be secure, permits the application of a number of rheological treatments to biological systems. The different fields of biorheology, including hemorheology, have grown rapidly and to such an extent that any abridged survey will remain inadequate.Jean-Leonard-Marie Poiseuille first reported in 1835 hisin vivo studies “Recherches sur les causes du mouvement du sang dans les vaisseaux capillaires”, which led to the application of rheological treatments to the flow of blood. The discovery of the laws of flow was based on experiments whichPoiseuille was stimulated to make from his observations in living blood capillaries, resulting in his studies “Recherches experimentales sur le mouvement des liquides dans les tubes de tres petits diametres”. These reports, published from 1840 to 1842, were accepted throughout Europe. On the basis ofPoiseuille's findings,Maxwell, Jacobson Mathieu and others deduced from the fundamental equation ofNewton the well known formula for viscosity, which was later named afterPoiseuille. It will be demonstrated that there are other reciprocal stimuli from biology and rheology, which promise to continue to be fruitful. Numerous biological phenomena and processes await a rheological approach for the characterization of the flow properties involved and for quantitative studies. It will be shown that biorheology, in spite of its brief history as an organized science, is of growing importance in the biological and medical sciences. New knowledge gained in biorheology, as applied to the practice of medicine and surgery, will serve the well-being of the human species.