Determination of cell volume during equilibrium freezing process

A new type electronic particle counter (EPC, MultisizerTM 3, Beckman Coulter Inc., USA) was used to determine the volumes of human red blood cells (RBCs) in NaCl solutions of different osmolalities. The thermodynamics model describing cell response during freezing process was used to simulate the volume change of RBC in 0.9% NaCl solution during equilibrium freezing process. It was assumed that the effect of temperature on cell volume can be neglected compared to that of osmolality, then by using the phase diagram for the binary system sodium chloride/water, the osmolalities of the NaCl solution under different sub-zero temperatures can be obtained (converted from mass concentration), then the calculated values of RBC volumes can be validated by the experiments.