Method and device for measuring the deformability of living cells, notably of red blood corpusles

In order to produce easily a deformation in a cell population enabling the production of an optical diffraction pattern, a liquid containing a suspension, either homogeneous, or localized, is passed into a transparent tubular channel with a fixed wall in the form of a laminar flow, the beam passing through this channel perpendicularly. This method avoids the use of movable mechanical means for obtaining the conditions necessary for the deformation of the cells, and permits valuable indications to be obtained on the quality of the hemoglobin and the structure of the wall.