A simplified model for red cell dynamics in small blood vessels

Abstract

A simple mechanism for the confinement of red cells in the middle of narrow blood vessels is proposed. In the presence of a quadratic shear, red cells deform in such a way to loose fore-aft symmetry and to achieve a fixed orientation with respect to the flow. This leads to a drift away from the vessel walls, when the vessel diameter goes below a critical value depending on the viscoelastic properties and the dimensions of the cell.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures; to be published on Phys. Rev. Lett.; various modifications to text and figure