Giovanna Tomaiuolo
University of Naples "Federico II", Italy

Microconfined flow of red blood cells

The high red blood cell (RBC) deformability is essential to optimal gas exchange between gas and tissues in microcirculation in vivo. This work is focused on the flow behavior of RBCs in microconfined geometries in vitro, such as circular section capillaries, rectangular channels and pores, where at least one transverse dimension is comparable to cell size. Experimental results on RBC velocity and shape will be presented together with modeling predictions and numerical simulations.