Cell-density dependence of two-dimensional blood flow

Abstract

Blood viscosity depends on density of red blood cells (RBCs), which deform and interact to each other through the long-ranged hydrodynamic flow field. However, a direct experimental evidence for the correlation between macroscopic fluid properties of blood and these microscopic dynamics is still lacking. In this paper we will experimentally examine the interaction among flowing RBCs for various flow speed and density, which are designed and performed under microfluidic platform. In particular, we report a characteristic displacement of flowing RBCs perpendicular to the mainstream in the two-dimensional blood flow in a microchannel.