Shape transitions of RBC under oscillatory flows in microchannels

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of the Red Blood Cell (RBC) in microfluidic channels under oscillatory flows. The simulations employ a hybrid continuum-particle approach, in which the cell membrane and cytosol fluid are modeled using Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) method, and the blood plasma is modeled as an incompressible fluid via the Immersed Boundary Method (IBM). The goal of this study is to understand the morphological modes of the RBC under transient shear rates. Our simulations show good agreement with previous experimental and computational works. Our findings demonstrate the ability to control the transient dynamics of the RBC by adjusting the oscillatory waveform at the microchannel inlet. These results suggest that oscillatory flows can be used to manipulate cells, which may have implications for cell separation and identification of pathological cells.