The effect of the prior flow velocity on the structural organization of aggregated erythrocytes in the quiescent blood

Abstract

Usually, investigations of erythrocyte aggregation at rest are focused on effects of the strength of erythrocyte-erythrocyte attractive interactions and the volume fraction of the cells, whereas the role of prior flow velocity has not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study is to fill this gap. The main conclusions extracted from time records of the complex admittance of blood are as follows: (1) Dispersion of blood in a prior flow into discrete aggregates increases the mesh size of network, which, as has been recently shown, is formed in the quiescent blood. (2) If the energy of the flow field is sufficient to prevent the formation of face-to-side intercellular links, so that the dispersed phase consists of linear rouleaux, changes in the mesh size correlate positively with the length of rouleaux. (3) At slower prior flow velocities, the cells are combined into branched aggregates. As the degree of branching increases, the effect becomes less important. (4) The effects of the length of linear rouleaux and the degree of branching of ramified aggregates on the mesh size are qualitatively similar for suspensions with different aggregating media. (5) Erythrocytes suspended in strongly aggregating media form at low flow conditions a network-like structure. In this case, unlike high and moderate prior flow regimes, the mesh size of RBC network at rest is less than that formed after the stoppage of completely dispersed blood.