Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 10, 2025
10:27
Controlled Microfluidic Environment for Dynamic Investigation of Red Blood Cell Aggregation
Published on: June 4, 2015
12.0K
Red blood cell shape transitions and dynamics in time-dependent capillary flows.
Steffen M Recktenwald1, Katharina Graessel2, Felix M Maurer1
1Dynamics of Fluids, Department of Experimental Physics, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Biophysical Journal
|December 13, 2021
Summary
Single red blood cells (RBCs) transition faster to slipper shapes than croissant shapes in unsteady flow. This RBC behavior in microvessels may help identify disease.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Fluid Dynamics
- Hematology
Background:
- Red blood cell (RBC) deformability is crucial for microvascular blood flow.
- Cellular dynamics in confined, unsteady flow remain incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate RBC shape transitions and dynamics under confined, time-dependent flow conditions.
- To elucidate the factors influencing RBC movement and oscillation in narrow channels.
Main Methods:
- Microfluidic experiments tracking single RBCs in comoving frames.
- Numerical simulations analyzing RBC membrane orientation and flow interactions.
Main Results:
- Faster transition from croissant to slipper shape compared to the reverse, with significant cell rotation.
- RBC dynamics are influenced by membrane orientation during time-dependent flow.
- Tank-treading motion in slipper-shaped RBCs causes center-of-mass oscillations.
Conclusions:
- Oscillation frequency depends on cell velocity, external, and cytosol viscosity.
- Findings offer a framework for detecting pathological RBC changes.
- Understanding RBC dynamics is key for diagnosing blood flow disorders.
Related Concept Videos
01:07Laminar and Turbulent Flow
9.5K
Fluid dynamics is the study of fluids in motion. Velocity vectors are often used to illustrate fluid motion in applications like meteorology. For example, wind—the fluid motion of air in the atmosphere—can be represented by vectors indicating the speed and direction of the wind at any given point on a map. Another method for representing fluid motion is a streamline. A streamline represents the path of a small volume of fluid as it flows. When the flow pattern changes with time, the...
9.5K
01:19Capillarity in Fluid
448
Capillarity describes the movement of liquid in small spaces without external forces acting on it. The capillarity is driven by surface tension and adhesive interactions between the liquid and surrounding solid surfaces. This effect is often seen in narrow tubes, porous materials, and fine particles.
Surface tension is crucial to capillarity. It results from cohesive forces between liquid molecules at the liquid-air boundary, forming a skin that resists external forces. When the capillary tube...
Surface tension is crucial to capillarity. It results from cohesive forces between liquid molecules at the liquid-air boundary, forming a skin that resists external forces. When the capillary tube...
448
01:23Steady, Laminar Flow in Circular Tubes
509
Hagen-Poiseuille flow describes a viscous fluid's steady, incompressible flow through a cylindrical tube with a constant radius R. This flow profile is often applied to understand fluid transport in narrow channels, such as capillaries. It serves as a foundational example of laminar flow. In this model, cylindrical coordinates (r,θ,z) are used to describe the radial (r), angular (θ), and axial (z) dimensions within the tube. For Hagen-Poiseuille flow, the velocity profile is...
509
01:23Introduction to Types of Flows
1.5K
Fluid flows are categorized by dimensionality and behavior, with one-dimensional flow being the simplest form, where properties like velocity and pressure change only along a single axis. Water moving through straight pipes exemplifies this flow type, as variations in other directions are minimal. One-dimensional analysis helps simplify understanding such flows, focusing solely on changes along the pipe's length.
Two-dimensional flow involves changes in both length and height, as seen in...
Two-dimensional flow involves changes in both length and height, as seen in...
1.5K
00:57Physiological Pharmacokinetic Models: Blood Flow-Limited Versus Diffusion-Limited Models
168
Physiological pharmacokinetic models, often called flow-limited or perfusion models, typically assume a swift drug distribution between tissue and venous blood, creating a rapid drug equilibrium. This premise is based on the idea that drug diffusion is extremely fast, and the cell membrane presents no barrier to drug permeation. In this scenario, where no drug binding occurs, the drug concentration in the tissue equals that of the venous blood leaving the tissue. This greatly simplifies the...
168
01:24Rapidly Varying Flow
167
Rapidly varying flow (RVF) in open channels is characterized by abrupt changes in flow depth over a short distance, with the rate of depth change relative to distance often approaching unity. These flows are inherently complex due to their transient and multi-dimensional nature, making exact analysis difficult. However, approximate solutions using simplified models provide valuable insights into their behavior.Key Features of Rapidly Varying FlowRVF is commonly observed in scenarios involving...
167