Affiliations: Cardiovascular Flow Dynamics Laboratory, Civil Engineering Department, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77004
Note: [*] Present Address: Biomedical Engineering Services, King Khalid University Hospital, P. O. Box 7805, Riyadh 11472, Saudi Arabia.
Note: [] Accepted by Editor Y.C.B. Fung
Abstract: Various previous models used in studying red blood cell (RBC) hemolysis in turbulent shear flows are reviewed from a fluid dynamic point of view. The effect of turbulent shear stress (Reynolds shear stress, τR) on RBC hemolysis is investigated utilizing a submerged axisymmetric jet flow field. A detailed survey of the flow field is made with a laser Doppler anemometer system to obtain contour maps of the mean velocity distributions, relative turbulence intensities, and τR distributions in the field prior to conducting the experiment of sampling and analyzing the cells free-hemoglobin in the field. A new two-point sampling technique, developed in this laboratory, allows collections of RBC samples from selected locations in the flow field so that a relationship between the local shear stress level and the cell damage may be established. The threshold level of τR responsible for incipient hemolysis is found to be approximately 400 Newtons per square meter (N/m2), below which a sublethal region of zero hemolysis is observed.
DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1984-21605
Journal: Biorheology, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 783-797, 1984
