Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Biophys J. 2010 May 19;98(10):2215-25. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2010.02.002.
Red blood cells (RBCs) have highly deformable viscoelastic membranes exhibiting complex rheological response and rich hydrodynamic behavior governed by special elastic and bending properties and by the external/internal fluid and membrane viscosities. We present a multiscale RBC model that is able to predict RBC mechanics, rheology, and dynamics in agreement with experiments. Based on an analytic theory, the modeled membrane properties can be uniquely related to the experimentally established RBC macroscopic properties without any adjustment of parameters. The RBC linear and nonlinear elastic deformations match those obtained in optical-tweezers experiments. The rheological properties of the membrane are compared with those obtained in optical magnetic twisting cytometry, membrane thermal fluctuations, and creep followed by cell recovery. The dynamics of RBCs in shear and Poiseuille flows is tested against experiments and theoretical predictions, and the applicability of the latter is discussed. Our findings clearly indicate that a purely elastic model for the membrane cannot accurately represent the RBC's rheological properties and its dynamics, and therefore accurate modeling of a viscoelastic membrane is necessary.
红细胞（RBCs）具有高度可变形的粘弹性膜，表现出复杂的流变响应和丰富的流动行为，这是由特殊的弹性和弯曲特性以及外部/内部流体和膜粘度决定的。我们提出了一个多尺度 RBC 模型，该模型能够预测 RBC 的力学、流变学和动力学，与实验结果一致。基于分析理论，所建模的膜特性可以与实验中建立的 RBC 宏观特性唯一相关，而无需调整任何参数。红细胞的线性和非线性弹性变形与光镊实验中获得的变形相匹配。膜的流变特性与光学磁扭转细胞仪、膜热波动和细胞恢复后的蠕变实验结果进行了比较。对 RBC 在剪切和泊肃叶流中的动力学进行了实验和理论预测的检验，并讨论了后者的适用性。我们的研究结果清楚地表明，对于膜，纯粹的弹性模型不能准确地表示 RBC 的流变特性及其动力学，因此需要对粘弹性膜进行准确的建模。
