Structural analysis of red blood cell aggregates under shear flow

A set of measures of red blood cell (RBC) aggregates are developed and applied to examine the aggregate structure under plane shear and channel flows. Some of these measures are based on averages over the set of red blood cells which are in contact with each other at a given time. Other measures are developed by first fitting an ellipse to the planar projection of the aggregate, and then examining the area and aspect ratio of the fit ellipse as well as the orientations of constituent RBCs with respect to the fit ellipse axes. The aggregate structural measures are illustrated using a new mesoscale computational model for blood cell transport, collision and adhesion. The sensitivity of this model to change in adhesive surface energy density and shear rate on the aggregate structure is examined. It is found that the mesoscale model predictions exhibit reasonable agreement with experimental and theoretical data for blood flow in plane shear and channel flows. The new structural measures are used to examine the differences between predictions of two- and three-dimensional computations of the aggregate formation, showing that two-dimensional computations retain some of the important aspects of three-dimensional computations.