text: Laser diffraction analysis has been used to measure particle-size objects in situations such as:
  *  observing distribution of soil texture and sediments such as clay and mud, with an emphasis on silt and the sizes of bigger samples of clay.
  *  determining in situ measurements of particles in estuaries. Particles in estuaries are important as they allow for natural or pollutant chemical species to move around with ease. The size, density, and stability of particles in estuaries are important for their transportation. Laser diffraction analysis is used here to compare particle size distributions to support this claim as well as find cycles of change in estuaries that occur because of different particles.
  *  soil and its stability when wet. The stability of soil aggregation (clumps held together by moist clay) and clay dispersion (clay separating in moist soil), the two different states of soil in the Cerrado savanna region, were compared with laser diffraction analysis to determine if plowing had an effect on the two. Measurements were made before plowing and after plowing for different intervals of time. Clay dispersion turned out to not be affected by plowing while soil aggregation did.
  *  erythrocyte deformability under shear. Due to a special phenomenon called tank treading, the membrane of the erythrocyte (red blood cell, RBC) rotates relative to the shear force and the cells cytoplasm causing RBCs to orient themselves. Oriented and stretched red blood cells have a diffraction pattern representing the apparent particle size in each direction, making it possible to measure the erythrocyte deformability and the orientability of the cells. In an ektacytometer' erythrocyte deformability can be measured under changing osmotic stress or oxygen tension and is used in the diagnosis and follow up of congenital hemolytic anemias.