Computer model predicting red blood cell flow holds potential for trauma treatment

A new computer model can predict red blood cell flow and holds potential for improving treatment for trauma injuries, according to research published recently in the journal Physics of Fluids. Eric Shaqfeh, a professor of chemical and mechanical engineering at Stanford University, and his colleagues created the first simplified computer model of the process that forms that layer--a model "that could help to improve the design of artificial platelets and medical treatments for trauma injuries and for blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia and malaria.

The model is a scaled-down version of an earlier numerical model created by Shaqfeh that provided the first large-scale, quantitative explanation of the formation of the layer. It can predict how blood cells with varying shapes will influence blood flow, according to an announcement from the American Institute of Physics. Announcement