A Cellular Model of Shear-Induced Hemolysis

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Computational Biology
• Biomaterials

Background:

• Red blood cell (RBC) hemolysis occurs under high shear stress, leading to hemoglobin leakage.
• Understanding RBC membrane damage is crucial for medical device development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel computational model for studying red blood cell (RBC) hemolysis at the cellular level.
• To predict RBC damage and hemoglobin release under varying shear rates.

Main Methods:

• Coupling lattice Boltzmann and spring-connected network models via the immersed boundary method.
• Utilizing adaptive meshing for strain distribution analysis and molecular dynamics for damage assessment.
• Implementing sub-models for pore formation criteria, pore size calculation, and hemoglobin diffusive flux.

Main Results:

• The model accurately estimates single RBC hemolysis under different shear rates.
• Predicted results show good agreement with experimental data and existing models.
• The model successfully integrates multi-scale information to predict cellular-level hemolysis.

Conclusions:

• The developed cellular damage model provides a predictive tool for RBC hemolysis.
• This model can aid in the hydrodynamic and hematologic design optimization of blood-contacting medical devices.