Modeling the Effect of Red Blood Cells Deformability on Blood Flow Conditions in Human Carotid Artery Bifurcation

The purpose of this work is to predict the effect of impaired red blood cells (RBCs) deformability on blood flow conditions in human carotid artery bifurcation. First, a blood viscosity model is developed that predicts the steady-state blood viscosity as a function of shear rate, plasma viscosity, and mechanical (and geometrical) properties of RBC's. Viscosity model is developed by modifying the well-known Krieger and Dougherty equation for monodisperse suspensions by using the dimensional analysis approach. With the approach, we manage to account for the microscopic properties of RBC's, such as their deformability, in the macroscopic behavior of blood via blood viscosity. In the second part of the paper, the deduced viscosity model is used to numerically predict blood flow conditions in human carotid artery bifurcation. Simulations are performed for different values of RBC's deformability and analyzed by investigating parameters, such as the temporal mean wall shear stress (WSS), oscillatory shear index (OSI), and mean temporal gradient of WSS. The analyses show that the decrease of RBC's deformability decrease the regions of low WSS (i.e., sites known to be prevalent at atherosclerosis-prone regions); increase, in average, the value of WSS along the artery; and decrease the areas of high OSI. These observations provide an insight into the influence of blood's microscopic properties, such as the deformability of RBC's, on hemodynamics in larger arteries and their influence on parameters that are known to play a role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis.