A numerical study on the elastic modulus of volume and area dilation for a deformable cell in a microchannel.

A red blood cell (RBC) in a microfluidic channel is highly interesting for scientists in various fields of research on biological systems. This system has been studied extensively by empirical, analytical, and numerical methods. Nonetheless, research of predicting the behavior of an RBC in a microchannel is still an interesting area. The complications arise from deformation of an RBC and interactions among the surrounding fluid, wall, and RBCs. In this study, a pressure-driven RBC in a microchannel was simulated with a three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann method of an immersed boundary. First, the effect of boundary thickness on the interaction between the wall and cell was analyzed by measuring the time of passage through the narrow channel. Second, the effect of volume conservation stiffness was studied. Finally, the effect of global area stiffness was analyzed.