Microfluidic interactions between red blood cells and drug carriers by image analysis techniques

Abstract

Blood is a complex biological fluid composed of deformable cells and platelets suspended in plasma, a protein-rich liquid. The peculiar nature of blood needs to be considered when designing a drug delivery strategy based on systemically administered carriers. Here, we report on an in vitro fluid dynamic investigation of the influence of the microcapillary flow of red blood cells (RBCs) on micron sized carriers by high speed imaging methods. The experiments were carried out in a 50 m diameter glass capillary that mimicked the hydrodynamic conditions of human microcirculation. Spherical particles (-Ps), with sizes ranging between 0.5 and 3 m, were tested. Images of the flowing RBCs and -Ps were acquired by a highspeed/high-magnification microscopy. The transport and distribution of rigid particles in a suspension of RBCs under shear flow were followed for: i) the migration of RBCs towards the vessel centerline due to their deformability; ii) the cross-flow migration of -Ps towards the vessel wall due to their hydrodynamic interactions with RBCs; iii) the radial distribution of Ps in the presence of RBCs. This study suggests that the therapeutic efficacy of Ps could be ultimately affected by their interactions with the flowing RBCs in the vasculature.

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Generalized plasma skimming model for cells and drug carriers in the microvasculature

“…Previous studies showed that their interactions depend on numerous factors including drug carriers' size, shape, and even vessel geometry (Tan et al 2013). Both numerical simulations and experiments indicated clear interactions between drug carriers and RBCs (Müller et al 2014;D'Apolito et al 2016). Lee et al studied that the cross-sectional distribution of drug carriers depend on their size, and that larger particles tend to marginate towards vessel walls (Lee et al 2013).…”

Chemical Engineering in the “BIO” world

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