[Use of atomic force microscopy for estimation of the morphometric indices of blood cells].
The possibility of using the atomic-force microscopy for the evaluation of the geometrical characteristics of blood cells has been shown. It has been found by comparing the hemocyte morphometric indices obtained at different modes of scanning that noncontact and semicontact methods are adequate for the estimation of the size and geometry of biological objects. The scanning of cells in the semicontact mode leads to the irreversible deformation of samples.