The deformability of a red blood cell (RBC) is one of the most important biological parameters affecting blood flow, both in large arteries and in the microcirculation, and hence it can be used to quantify the cell state. Despite numerous studies on the mechanical properties of RBCs, including cell rigidity, much is still unknown about the relationship between deformability and the configuration of flowing cells, especially in a confined rectangular channel. Recent computer simulation techniques have successfully been used to investigate the detailed behavior of RBCs in a channel, but the dynamics of a translating RBC in a narrow rectangular microchannel have not yet been fully understood. In this study, we numerically investigated the behavior of RBCs flowing at different velocities in a narrow rectangular microchannel that mimicked a microfluidic device. The problem is characterized by the capillary number C a , which is the ratio between the fluid viscous force and the membrane elastic force. We found that confined RBCs in a narrow rectangular microchannel maintained a nearly unchanged biconcave shape at low C a , then assumed an asymmetrical slipper shape at moderate C a , and finally attained a symmetrical parachute shape at high C a . Once a RBC deformed into one of these shapes, it was maintained as the final stable configurations. Since the slipper shape was only found at moderate C a , measuring configurations of flowing cells will be helpful to quantify the cell state.
Keywords: Lattice–Boltzmann method; computational biomechanics; finite element method; immersed boundary method; narrow rectangular microchannel; red blood cells.