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Updated: Sep 17, 2025
10:27
Controlled Microfluidic Environment for Dynamic Investigation of Red Blood Cell Aggregation
Published on: June 4, 2015
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Effect of intercellular collisions on red blood cell membrane damage
Hristo Valtchanov1, Renzo Cecere2, Rosaire Mongrain3
1Department of Mechanical Engineering 1, McGill University, Quebec, Canada. hristo.valtchanov@mail.mcgill.ca.
Scientific Reports
|July 2, 2025
Summary
Intercellular collisions in blood flow significantly increase red blood cell membrane strain and hemoglobin diffusion, crucial for understanding cellular damage in biomedical device development.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computational Fluid Dynamics
- Hematology
Background:
- Accurate modeling of blood flow is vital for developing new biomedical devices and treatments.
- Red blood cell (RBC) damage models often overlook the impact of intercellular collisions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of RBC-RBC collisions on cellular damage under shear flow.
- To quantify the impact of collisions on RBC membrane strain and hemoglobin diffusion.
Main Methods:
- Utilized fully coupled 3D fluid-structure interaction simulations.
- Simulated RBC collisions in a Couette shear flow.
- Incorporated viscoelasticity to analyze membrane viscosity effects.
Main Results:
- Intercellular collisions nearly double RBC membrane strain at hemolytic shear rates.
- Collisions similarly affect sublethal hemoglobin diffusion.
- Viscoelasticity had minimal impact on membrane strain at high shear rates.
Conclusions:
- Intercellular collisions are a critical factor in predicting RBC damage under dynamic flow conditions.
- Current RBC damage models need to incorporate collision effects for improved accuracy.
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