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Effects of stiffness and volume on the transit time of an erythrocyte through a slit

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Abstract

By using a fully coupled fluid–cell interaction model, we numerically simulate the dynamic process of a red blood cell passing through a slit driven by an incoming flow. The model is achieved by combining a multiscale model of the composite cell membrane with a boundary element fluid dynamics model based on the Stokes flow assumption. Our concentration is on the correlation between the transit time (the time it takes to finish the whole translocation process) and different conditions (flow speed, cell orientation, cell stiffness, cell volume, etc.) that are involved. According to the numerical prediction (with some exceptions), the transit time rises as the cell is stiffened. It is also highly sensitive to volume increase inside the cell. In general, even slightly swollen cells (i.e., the internal volume is increased while the surface area of the cell kept unchanged) travel dramatically slower through the slit. For these cells, there is also an increased chance of blockage.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Pedro Cabrales for discussions about the effects of exercise and blood storage on the mechanical properties of red cells.

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  1. Department of Structural Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Sara Salehyar & Qiang Zhu

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  1. Sara Salehyar
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  2. Qiang Zhu
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Correspondence to Qiang Zhu.

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Salehyar, S., Zhu, Q. Effects of stiffness and volume on the transit time of an erythrocyte through a slit. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 16, 921–931 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-016-0861-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-016-0861-7

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