Numerical Simulations of the Motion and Deformation of Three RBCs during Poiseuille Flow through a Constricted Vessel Using IB-LBM.

The objective was to determine the effects of the degree of constriction and the Reynolds (Re) number of the flow on the physical characteristics of the RBCs. It was found that, with decreasing constriction ratio, the RBCs experienced greater forced deformation as they squeezed through the constriction area compared to at other parts of the microchannel. It was also observed that a longer time was required for the RBCs to squeeze through a narrower constriction. The RBCs subsequently regained a stable shape and gradually migrated toward the centerline of the flow beyond the constriction area. However, a sick RBC was observed to be incapable of passing through a constricted vessel with a constriction ratio ≤1/3 for Re numbers below 0.40.
PMID: 29681999 [PubMed - in process]

Source: Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine - April 25, 2018 Category: Statistics Tags: Comput Math Methods Med Source Type: research