Numerical Study of RBC Motion and Deformation through Microcapillary in Alcohol Plasma Solution

Abstract

Alcohol influences human health condition by starving red blood cells (RBCs) of oxygen, which results in poor blood circulation. Starved RBCs clump together and restrict blood flow, especially in capillaries. In this study, a finite element method-based moving mesh technique was applied to simulate the motion and deformation of a single RBC under different flow conditions. A 2-D model of a single RBC floating in plasma-alcohol solution was created using Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method with moving mesh for a fluid structure interaction problem. Cell deformability and stability were studied in an alcoholic plasma solution at different fluid flow conditions. Poor blood circulation was observed with RBC tending to rotate and oscillate at low flow rates. Moreover, RBC exhibited a parachute shape while moving without oscillation, which indicated improved micro-circulation at increased flow rates. In both cases, RBC exhibited a parachute shape while moving through micro-channel at increased flow rates. The simulation also showed the significant increase of RBC deformability with the increasing viscosity of plasma as a result of alcohol presence in blood.

Microfluidic Simulation and Optimization of Blood Coagulation Factors and Anticoagulants in Polymethyl Methacrylate Microchannels

“…During simulation, the mesh update is automatically performed using ANSYS Fluent according to the changes in the boundaries of each iteration step. Dynamic meshes have also been used in several studies to simulate the flow of blood in blood vessels [22][23][24]. An efficient dynamic mesh technique [18], which can be used to simulate the problem of flow field variation with respect to time and boundary motion, can be devised using the ANSYS Fluent dynamic mesh model.…”

“…During simulation, the mesh update is automatically performed using ANSYS Fluent according to the changes in the boundaries of each iteration step. Dynamic meshes have also been used in several studies to simulate the flow of blood in blood vessels [22][23][24].…”

Correlation between Different Erythrocytes Sedimentation Rates and Bioimpedances Surface Acoustic Wave

“…These applications had depended on determining the variation of the electrical blood characteristics as compared to the normal cases [5,6,7,8]. Microcytes and macrocytes are two phenomena as examples of the volume variations and so the impedances of the RBCs that are referred to certain diseases or drinking alcohol or wines [9].…”