Analysis of a micromethod for transmission oximetry of whole blood

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Abstract
The relative roles of absorption and scattering in transmission oximetry of whole blood were examined theoretically and by experiment. It was found that OD 8050 of whole blood is a parabolic function of the hematocrit. The optical density is considerably greater than that of a true solution of hemoglobin except when the hematocrit approaches unity. The optical density is not a linear function of cuvette thickness, again except for hematocrits approaching unity. These experimental results fit the theoretical analysis. Consequently it was possible to design a micromethod for transmission oximetry of whole blood using packed cells in microhematocrit tubes. The correspondence of the modified spectrophotometric method and the gasometric method was sufficiently good to warrant its routine use. oximetry of packed red cells Submitted on June 25, 1963