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The viscoelastic properties of blood serum were measured by means of a capillary viscometer described in earlier papers by the authors. The capillary viscometer constructed earlier was further modified by the use of Teflon as part of the capillary section. Changes in viscosity and recoverable shear strain were determined as a function of time on samples from patients who underwent open heart surgery. The measured values showed marked changes in both viscosity and elastic shear modulus immediately following, and for some time after, surgery.

Measurements were taken of the viscoelastic properties of saliva and blood serum, by slightly modifying the capillary apparatus constructed earlier by two of the authors. The elastic property measured was the recoverable shear strain as a function of shear stress, which enables one to calculate the elastic shear modulus. The materials tested were collected from hospital patients suffering from a variety of diseases, such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, malignant neoplastic disease and Guillian–Barré syndrome. Measured values of the viscoelastic properties of the patients are found to be quite different from those of healthy persons, suggesting that the method developed by the authors has a potential use for possible clinical application in testing saliva or serum of patients.