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Publication 17-CNA-009

Transport of platelets induced by red blood cells based on mixture theory

We-Tao Wu
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
weitaow@andrew.cmu.edu

Nadine Aubry
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Northeastern University
Boston, MA 02115
n.aubry@northeastern.edu

Mehrdad Massoudi
Center for Nonlinear Analysis
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
and
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)
U.S. Department of Energy
626 Cochrans Mill Road, P.O. Box 10940
Pittsburgh, PA 15236
massoudi@netl.doe.gov

James F. Antaki
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
antaki@cmu.edu

Abstract: The near-wall enrichment of platelets strongly influences thrombus formation in vivo and in vitro. This paper develops a multi-constituent continuum approach to study this phenomenon. A mixture theory model is used to describe the motion of plasma and red blood cells (RBCs) and the interactions between the two components. A transport model is developed to study the influence of the RBCs field on the platelets. The model is used to study blood flow in a rectangular micro-channel, a sudden expansion micro-channel, and a channel containing micro crevices (representing a practical problem encountered in most blood-wetted devices). The simulations show that in the rectangular channel the concentration of the platelets near the walls is about five times higher than the concentration near the channel centerline. It is also noticed that in the channel with crevices, a large number of platelets accumulate in the deep part of the crevices and this may serve as nidus for excessive thrombus formation occurring in medical devices.

Get the paper in its entirety as  17-CNA-009.pdf


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