Wierzchleyski, Leszek Kazimierz; (2024) Computational Modelling of Blood Flow in Sickle Cell Disease. Masters thesis (M.Phil), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Sickle Cell Disease is a genetic condition in which red blood cells become stiff and misshapen. This in turn causes blockages in blood vessels which leads to oxygen deprivation to different organs, with potentially lethal consequences. Recent experimental observations have shown significant heterogeneity in the properties of red blood cells within blood samples from patients with Sickle Cell Disease. Here, we investigate how such cell property distributions lead to different blood flow rheologies. We show that in mixtures of stiffened and healthy cells, stiffer cells tend to migrate towards vessel walls, in agreement with previous findings. Furthermore, we investigate the role of cell shape in homogeneous mixtures of cells. We find that stiffened cells which retain a biconcave disc shape lead to a higher effective blood flow viscosity than those which deform into a spherical shape; this contrasts with deformable cells, which show the opposite behaviour. We suggest that this is because when stiffened, biconcave cells tend to lie closer to the vessel wall than spherical cells, and thus increase effective friction. These results inform our understanding of how cell stiffness and shape affect blood rheology in Sickle Cell Disease.

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