Kaliviotis, E;
Sherwood, JM;
Balabani, S;
(2017)
Partitioning of red blood cell aggregates in bifurcating microscale flows.
Scientific Reports
, 7
, Article 44563. 10.1038/srep44563.
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Balabani_partitioning of red blood cells.pdf - Published Version Download (1MB) |
Abstract
Microvascular flows are often considered to be free of red blood cell aggregates, however, recent studies have demonstrated that aggregates are present throughout the microvasculature, affecting cell distribution and blood perfusion. This work reports on the spatial distribution of red blood cell aggregates in a T-shaped bifurcation on the scale of a large microvessel. Non-aggregating and aggregating human red blood cell suspensions were studied for a range of flow splits in the daughter branches of the bifurcation. Aggregate sizes were determined using image processing. The mean aggregate size was marginally increased in the daughter branches for a range of flow rates, mainly due to the lower shear conditions and the close cell and aggregate proximity therein. A counterintuitive decrease in the mean aggregate size was apparent in the lower flow rate branches. This was attributed to the existence of regions depleted by aggregates of certain sizes in the parent branch, and to the change in the exact flow split location in the T-junction with flow ratio. The findings of the present investigation may have significant implications for microvascular flows and may help explain why the effects of physiological RBC aggregation are not deleterious in terms of in vivo vascular resistance.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | Partitioning of red blood cell aggregates in bifurcating microscale flows |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1038/srep44563 |
Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.1038/srep44563 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | Biomedical engineering, Circulation |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Mechanical Engineering |
URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1553550 |
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