Blood Rheology
Hemorheology and hemodynamics, or the study of how blood flows through our body is a known diagnostic tool for many diseases. Understanding the physical laws that govern flow of different cells within our vasculature system holds the key to a wide spectrum of diagnostics as well as treatments. Computational methods allow us to accurately simulate blood flow and gain important insights on hemorheological phenomena.
The Physics of Blood
We have been using massive Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations to reproduce and study the motion of different blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and sometimes cancerous cells) through different vessels, from microcapillaries to arteries. Our group has used these detailed simulations to better understand the role of different proteins and cell biomechanics on the rheology of blood, for instance we spent some time studying the role of fibrinogen in forming rouleaux of RBCs. We also have been particularly interested in developing physiologically-informed non-linear (thixotropic) constitutive models that accurately describe the rate and time dependent rheology of blood under different flowing conditions.