Hayem’s (RBC Diluting) Fluid

Diluting Fluid used for RBC count.

RBC diluting fluid is isotonic with blood; hence hemolysis does not take place. Normal Saline also can be used. But it causes slight creation of red blood cells and allows rouleaux formation. The blood specimen is diluted 1:200 with the RBC diluting fluid and cells are counted under high power (40x objective) by using a counting chamber. The number of cells in undiluted blood are calculated and reported as the number of red cells per cu mm (MI) of whole blood.

Appearance: Colourless, solution.