A numerical study on the elastic modulus of volume and area dilation for a deformable cell in a microchannel

Abstract

A red blood cell (RBC) in a microfluidic channel is highly interesting forscientists in various fields of research on biological systems. This system hasbeen studied extensively by empirical, analytical, and numerical methods.Nonetheless, research of predicting the behavior of an RBC in a microchannelis still an interesting area. The complications arise from deformation of anRBC and interactions among the surrounding fluid, wall, and RBCs. In thisstudy, a pressure-driven RBC in a microchannel was simulated with a threedimensionallattice Boltzmann method of an immersed boundary. First, theeffect of boundary thickness on the interaction between the wall and cell wasanalyzed by measuring the time of passage through the narrow channel.Second, the effect of volume conservation stiffness was studied. Finally, theeffect of global area stiffness was analyzed.