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Reorientation of a single red blood cell during sedimentation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2016

D. Matsunaga ,
Y. Imai ,
C. Wagner  and
T. Ishikawa
D. Matsunaga*
Affiliation:
Department of Bioengineering and Robotics, Tohoku University, 6-6-01 Aoba, Aoba, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
Y. Imai
Affiliation:
School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-01 Aoba, Aoba, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
C. Wagner
Affiliation:
Experimental Physics, Saarland University, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany
T. Ishikawa
Affiliation:
Department of Bioengineering and Robotics, Tohoku University, 6-6-01 Aoba, Aoba, Sendai 980-8579, Japan Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-01 Aoba, Aoba, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
*
†Email address for correspondence: matsunaga@pfsl.mech.tohoku.ac.jp
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Abstract

The reorientation phenomenon of a single red blood cell during sedimentation is simulated using the boundary element method. The cell settles downwards due to a density difference between the internal and external fluids, and it changes orientation toward a vertical orientation regardless of Bond number or viscosity ratio. The reorientation phenomenon is explained by a shape asymmetry caused by the gravitational driving force, and the shape asymmetry increases almost linearly with the Bond number. When velocities are normalised by the driving force, settling/drifting velocities are weak functions of the Bond number and the viscosity ratio, while the angular velocity of the reorientation drastically changes with these parameters: the angular velocity is smaller for lower Bond number or higher viscosity ratio. As a consequence, trajectories of the sedimentation are also affected by the angular velocity, and blood cells with slower reorientation travel longer distances in the drifting direction. We also explain the mechanism of the reorientation using an asymmetric dumbbell. From the analysis, we show that the magnitude of the angular velocity is explained by two main factors: the shape asymmetry and the instantaneous orientation angle.

JFM classification

Low-Reynolds-number flows: Boundary integral methods Biological Fluid Dynamics: Capsule/cell dynamics Low-Reynolds-number flows: Low-Reynolds-number flows
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 806 , 10 November 2016 , pp. 102 - 128
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Copyright
© 2016 Cambridge University Press 

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Matsunaga et al. supplementary movie

Sedimentation of a single red blood cell under Bond number Bo=2.5×101 and viscosity ratio (a) λ=1.0 and (b) λ=5.0. The initial orientation angle is Θ0=π/4, and the animation shows up to non-dimensional time (aΔρg)t/μ =300. Note that camera is also settling with the cell.

Download Matsunaga et al. supplementary movie(Video)
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