Mechanisms and models of the dehydration self-organization in biological fluids

The dehydration self-organization phenomenon in biological fluids attracted the attention of researchers slightly more than a decade ago. While seemingly simple (the structure formation is possible to observe even in domestic conditions), the effect turned out to be extremely complicated and to involve a number of interrelated processes of a different physical nature. The dehydration self-organization effect in biological fluids underlies a medical diagnostic technique patented in 40 countries of the world, while the mechanisms that underlie the technique still remain largely obscure. This review is an attempt to draw an integrated picture of the current state of the problem: to emphasize reliably established facts and the problems that remain to be solved, to put an end to speculation, and to characterize the available theories and models. An analysis of the literature sources allows us to draw the conclusion that the effects observed in the dehydration of biological fluids are typical for colloidal solutions in general and can be described in the framework of conventional physical approaches.