Figure 6. Evaluating the changes in visco-elasticity.

A, the changes in capillary radius, calculated from the movements of a marker red cell, after a step increase in pressure from 57 to 71 cmH₂O are plotted against time (progression of the same cell in Fig. 2). The radius increases approximately exponentially with time from an initial radius R₀ to a final radius, R_inf. B, semi-logarithmic plot of the changes in vessel radius against time (same data as in A) is linear. The slope of the relationship is the reciprocal of the time constant τ.