title: Effect of deformability difference between two erythrocytes on their aggregation.
abstract: In this study, we investigated the rheology of a doublet that is an aggregate of two red blood cells (RBCs). According to previous studies, most aggregates in blood flow consist of RBC doublet-pairs and thus the understanding of doublet dynamics has scientific importance in describing its hemodynamics. The RBC aggregation tendency can be significantly affected by the cell's deformability which can vary under both physiological and pathological conditions. Hence, we conducted a two-dimensional simulation of doublet dynamics under a simple shear flow condition with different deformability between RBCs. To study the dissociation process of the doublet, we employed the aggregation model described by the Morse-type potential function, which is based on the depletion theory. In addition, we developed a new method of updating fluid property to consider viscosity difference between RBC cytoplasm and plasma. Our results showed that deformability difference between the two RBCs could significantly reduce their aggregating tendency under a shear condition of 50 s(-1), resulting in disaggregation. Since even under physiological conditions, the cell deformability may be significantly different, consideration of the difference in deformability amongst RBCs in blood flow would be needed for the hemodynamic studies based on a numerical approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117576, Singapore.
authors.forename: Meongkeun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.forename: Swe Soe
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Hong Tong
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Low
authors.forename: Junfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cabrales
authors.forename: Hwa Liang
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Leo
authors.forename: Sangho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004903:Erythrocyte Aggregation; D004907:Erythrocyte Deformability; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological