Red blood cells (RBCs) form approximately 40 to 45% of the human blood volume, and their behaviour and characteristics are the main determinant of blood properties, such as viscosity. RBCs are deformable species and stack together under low shear rate to form aggregates or rouleaux. Flowing RBCs migrate away from the wall leaving a cell-depleted layer known as the cell-free layer (CFL). This layer contributes to the blood viscosity and exchange between the RBCs and the target cells: a thinner CFL enhances the exchange process by reducing the diffusion distance. The formation of this CFL, however, is not yet completely understood.
The goal of this study is to improve the understanding of the formation of the CFL in the micro-flow. This was accomplished by studying the effects of changing both the flow rate and the microchannel geometry on blood flow in microchannels.
In this work, 10% hematocrit human blood suspensions were prepared in native plasma and flowed through poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannels of 100 μm x 34 μm cross-section. Investigation of the flowing cells was performed by using micro particle image velocimetry (μPIV) coupled with a high-speed camera. First, the high-speed camera images were processed with customized Matlab programs to detect and measure the CFL thickness and the RBC aggregates sizes. Second, the blood flow velocity profiles were measured using μPIV in order to determine the actual flow rate, the RBCs’ centerline velocity, and the shear rate.
The results showed that the increase in both flow rate and shear rate significantly reduced the CFL thickness and RBC aggregates size. Comparison of the upstream and downstream measurements in the bifurcating microchannel showed that the change in microchannel geometry did not significantly influence CFL thickness and RBC aggregate size, while within the daughter branches, RBCs tended to flow close to the inner wall resulting in an undetectable CFL at the inner wall and in a larger CFL at the outer wall of the branch. These in vitro results quantitatively relate CFL thickness and RBC aggregate size at different shear rates. The findings are of immediate interest regarding the understanding of microcirculation and improved designs of microchips.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/37211 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Gliah, Omemah Rajab |
| Contributors | Fenech, Marianne |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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