Effects of red blood cell aggregation on the blood flow in a symmetrical stenosed microvessel

In order to figure out whether red blood cell (RBC) aggregation is beneficial or deleterious for the blood flow through a stenosis, fluid mechanics of a microvascular stenosis was examined through simulating the dynamics of deformable red blood cells suspended in plasma using dissipative particle dynamics. The spatial variation in time-averaged cell-free layer (CFL) thickness and velocity profiles indicated that the blood flow exhibits asymmetry along the flow direction. The RBC accumulation occurs upstream the stenosis, leading to a thinner CFL and reduced flow velocity. Therefore, the emergence of stenosis produces an increased blood flow resistance. In addition, an enhanced Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect was observed in the presence of the stenosis. Finally, the effect of RBC aggregation combined with decreased stenosis on the blood flow was investigated. The findings showed that when the RBC clusters pass through the stenosis with a throat comparable to the RBC core in diameter, the blood flow resistance decreases with increasing intercellular interaction strength. But if the RBC core is larger and even several times than the throat, the blood flow resistance increases largely under strong RBC aggregation, which may contribute to the mechanism of the microthrombus formation.

Flow structures and red blood cell dynamics in arteriole of dilated or constricted cross section

Vessel with 'circular' or 'star-shaped' cross sections are studied, representing respectively dilated or constricted cases where endothelial cells smoothly line or bulge into the lumen. Computational haemodynamics simulations are carried out on idealised periodic arteriole-sized vessels, with red blood cell 'tube' hematocrit value=24%. A further simulation of a single red blood cell serves for comparison purposes. The bulk motion of the red blood cells reproduces well-known effects, including the presence of a cell-free layer and the apparent shear-thinning non-Newtonian rheology. The velocity flow field is analysed in a Lagrangian reference frame, relative to any given red blood cell, hence removing the bulk coaxial motion and highlighting instead the complex secondary flow patterns. An aggregate formation becomes apparent, continuously rearranging and dynamic, brought about by the inter-cellular fluid mechanics interactions and the deformability properties of the cells. The secondary flow field induces a vacillating radial migration of the red blood cells. At different radial locations, the red blood cells express different residence times, orientation and shape. The shear stresses exerted by the flow on the vessel wall are influenced by the motion of red blood cells, despite the presence of the cell-free layer. Spatial (and temporal) variations of wall shear stress patters are observed, especially for the 'circular' vessel. The 'star-shaped' vessel bears considerable stress at the protruding endothelial cell crests, where the stress vectors are coaxially aligned. The bulging endothelial cells hence regularise the transmission of stresses on the vessel wall.

Simulating the complex cell design of Trypanosoma brucei and its motility

The flagellate Trypanosoma brucei, which causes the sleeping sickness when infecting a mammalian host, goes through an intricate life cycle. It has a rather complex propulsion mechanism and swims in diverse microenvironments. These continuously exert selective pressure, to which the trypanosome adjusts with its architecture and behavior. As a result, the trypanosome assumes a diversity of complex morphotypes during its life cycle. However, although cell biology has detailed form and function of most of them, experimental data on the dynamic behavior and development of most morphotypes is lacking. Here we show that simulation science can predict intermediate cell designs by conducting specific and controlled modifications of an accurate, nature-inspired cell model, which we developed using information from live cell analyses. The cell models account for several important characteristics of the real trypanosomal morphotypes, such as the geometry and elastic properties of the cell body, and their swimming mechanism using an eukaryotic flagellum. We introduce an elastic network model for the cell body, including bending rigidity and simulate swimming in a fluid environment, using the mesoscale simulation technique called multi-particle collision dynamics. The in silico trypanosome of the bloodstream form displays the characteristic in vivo rotational and translational motility pattern that is crucial for survival and virulence in the vertebrate host. Moreover, our model accurately simulates the trypanosome's tumbling and backward motion. We show that the distinctive course of the attached flagellum around the cell body is one important aspect to produce the observed swimming behavior in a viscous fluid, and also required to reach the maximal swimming velocity. Changing details of the flagellar attachment generates less efficient swimmers. We also simulate different morphotypes that occur during the parasite's development in the tsetse fly, and predict a flagellar course we have not been able to measure in experiments so far.

Typanosoma brucei is a uni-cellular parasite that causes the sleeping sickness, a deadly disease for humans that also occurs in livestock. Injected into the mammalian host by the tsetse fly, the trypanosome travels through the blood stream, where it proliferates, and ultimately can be taken up again by a fly during a bloodmeal. In the tsetse fly, it continues its development with several morphological changes to the cell body plan. During its life cycle, the trypanosome meets different microenvironments, such as the mammalian's bloodstream and the tsetse fly's midgut, proventriculus, foregut, and salivary gland. The cell body of the trypanosome has the shape of a spindle along which an eukaryotic flagellum is attached. We have developed an accurate, in silico model trypanosome using information from live cell analyses. Performing computer simulations, we are able to reproduce all motility patterns of the blood-stream form in typical cell culture medium. Modifying the cell design, we show that the helical course of the flagellar attachment optimizes the trypanosome's swimming speed. We also design trypanosomal morphotypes that occur in the tsetse fly. Simulation science thereby provides an investigative tool to systematically explore the morphologcial diversity during the trypanosome's life cycle even beyond experimental capabilities.

Hemodynamics in the microcirculation and in microfluidics

Hemodynamics in microcirculation is important for hemorheology and several types of circulatory disease. Although hemodynamics research has a long history, the field continues to expand due to recent advancements in numerical and experimental techniques at the micro-and nano-scales. In this paper, we review recent computational and experimental studies of blood flow in microcirculation and microfluidics. We first focus on the computational studies of red blood cell (RBC) dynamics, from the single cellular level to mesoscopic multiple cellular flows, followed by a review of recent computational adhesion models for white blood cells, platelets, and malaria-infected RBCs, in which the cell adhesion to the vascular wall is essential for cellular function. Recent developments in optical microscopy have enabled the observation of flowing blood cells in microfluidics. Experimental particle image velocimetry and particle tracking velocimetry techniques are described in this article. Advancements in micro total analysis system technologies have facilitated flowing cell separation with microfluidic devices, which can be used for biomedical applications, such as a diagnostic tool for breast cancer or large intestinal tumors. In this paper, cell-separation techniques are reviewed for microfluidic devices, emphasizing recent advances and the potential of this fast-evolving research field in the near future.

Two-dimensional strain-hardening membrane model for large deformation behavior of multiple red blood cells in high shear conditions

Background

Computational modeling of Red Blood Cell (RBC) flow contributes to the fundamental understanding of microhemodynamics and microcirculation. In order to construct theoretical RBC models, experimental studies on single RBC mechanics have presented a material description for RBC membranes based on their membrane shear, bending and area moduli. These properties have been directly employed in 3D continuum models of RBCs but practical flow analysis with 3D models have been limited by their computationally expensive nature. As such, various researchers have employed 2D models to efficiently and qualitatively study microvessel flows. Currently, the representation of RBC dynamics using 2D models is a limited methodology that breaks down at high shear rates due to excessive and unrealistic stretching.

Methods

We propose a localized scaling of the 2D elastic moduli such that it increases with RBC local membrane strain, thereby accounting for effects such as the Poisson effect and membrane local area incompressibility lost in the 2D simplification. Validation of our 2D Large Deformation (2D-LD) RBC model was achieved by comparing the predicted RBC deformation against the 3D model from literature for the case of a single RBC in simple shear flow under various shear rates (dimensionless shear rate G = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5). The multi-cell flow of RBCs (38% Hematocrit) in a 20 μm width microchannel under varying shear rates (50, 150, 150 s^-1) was then simulated with our proposed model and the popularly-employed 2D neo-Hookean model in order to evaluate the efficacy of our proposed 2D-LD model.

Results

The validation set indicated similar RBC deformation for both the 2D-LD and the 3D models across the studied shear rates, highlighting the robustness of our model. The multi-cell simulation indicated that the 2D neo-Hookean model predicts noodle-like RBC shapes at high shear rates (G = 0.5) whereas our 2D-LD model maintains sensible RBC deformations.

Conclusion

The ability of the 2D-LD model to limit RBC strain even at high shear rates enables this proposed model to be employed in practical simulations of high shear rate microfluidic flows such as blood separation channels.

Quantification of red blood cell deformation at high-hematocrit blood flow in microvessels

The deformation of red blood cells in microvessels was investigated numerically for various vessel diameters, hematocrits, and shear rates. We simulated blood flow in circular channels with diameters ranging from 9 to 50 μm, hematocrits from 20% to 45%, and shear rates from 20 to 150 s(-1) using a particle-based model with parallel computing. The apparent viscosity predicted by the simulation was in good agreement with previous experimental results. We quantified the deformation of red blood cells as a function of radial position. The numerical results demonstrated that because of the shape transition in response to local shear stress and the wall effect, the radial variation of red blood cell deformation in relatively large microvessels could be classified into three different regions: near-center, middle, and near-wall regions. Effects of the local shear stress and wall varied with vessel diameter, hematocrit, and shear rate.