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College of Medical Technology

Activity No. 1
Counting Blood Cells

Laboratory Mathematics Laboratory

Activity No. 1

FINALS Asynch Activity No. 1

Kristine Joy A. Resuento
 University of Perpetual Help System DALTA
College of Medical Technology

Activity No. 1
Counting Blood Cells

Blood Cell

Blood cell is a cell that is produced through hematopoiesis which can be mainly
found in the blood. Blood cell is also known as hematopoietic cell, hemocyte or
hematocyte. Three major types of blood cells are red blood cells (erythrocytes), white
blood cells (leukocytes), and platelets (thrombocytes) – these cells make up a total of
45% of the blood and the 55% remaining is the plasma which is the liquid component of
the blood.

Counting Blood Cells

In counting blood cells, a device called hemacytometer is used. Hemacytometer is a

modified slide containing two identical chambers in which suspension is pipetted. Each
chamber is divided into a grid pattern, consisting of 9 large square. Each square has the
same dimensions and contains 10-4mL of suspension.

Procedure in Counting Cells using Hemacytometer (According to video

“Counting Cells with a Hemacytometer” by BioNetwork):

1. Remove 100μL of cell suspension and place it in a micro-centrifuge tube

2. Dilute the suspension by adding 100μL of Trypan blue (a dye that helps to easily
recognize or distinguish living and dead cell).
3. Load both chambers by pipetting the suspension under the cover slip. Avoid
putting too much suspension.
4. Place the loaded hemacytometer under the microscope.

The rules for counting cells differs from lab-to-lab but in the video, I’ve watched, they
counted the 4 large corner squares and the center square.

5. Proceed in counting the cells.

Remember:
 University of Perpetual Help System DALTA
College of Medical Technology

Activity No. 1
Counting Blood Cells

- Trypan blue passes through the membrane of dead cells – so dead cells will
appear blue.
- Living cells exclude – so living cells will appear mostly clear.
- Sometimes, cells will appear as clumps or small groups. Counting these may
differ from lab-to-lab so make sure to follow your lab’s rule regarding with this.
6. Start first in the upper left corner of the hemacytometer. Record the number of
living and dead cells.
7. Next, proceed to the upper right of the hemacytometer. Record the number of
living and dead cells.
8. Third, proceed to the lower left of the hemacytometer. Record the number of
living and dead cells.
9. Then to the lower right of the hemacytometer. Record the number of living and
dead cells.
10. Lastly, proceed to the center of the hemacytometer. Record the number of living
and dead cells.

COMPUTATIONS:

a. To count % of viable cells:

# 𝑜𝑓 𝑉𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑠
× 100
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 # 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑠

b. To get the average # of cells/square:

𝑉𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑠
𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒
 University of Perpetual Help System DALTA
College of Medical Technology

Activity No. 1
Counting Blood Cells

c. To get Dilution Factor:

𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑠

d. Concentration (viable cells/ml)

Average # of cells/square × Dilution factor × 104
 University of Perpetual Help System DALTA
College of Medical Technology

Activity No. 1
Counting Blood Cells

Reference/s:
Wikipedia (n.d) Blood Cells retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_cell
Counting Cells with a Hemacytometer by BioNetwork retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP0xERLUhyc