Shear Induced Blood Cell Damage in Medical Devices

We have developed a multiscale red blood cell membrane damage model. A localized coarse-grained molecular dynamics model in the high-stress region is concurrently linked with a network-based cellular membrane model to characterize pore formation and hemoglobin release. We couple the membrane damage model with local fluid flow through the Immersed Boundary Method to study cell deformation, pore growth, and membrane rupture. Each sub-model is validated through a series of relevant experiments using microfluidic channels and FDA-approved heart pumps. We have implemented the developed multiscale model through a cloud-based website to predict hemolysis in any medical device.

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