Red blood cell deformation in microconfined flow

In this work, we report on a systematic fluidodynamic investigation of red blood cell (RBC) suspensions flowing in microcapillaries with diameters comparable to the cell size in vitro. By using high-speed video microscopy and image analysis, we provide the first simultaneous determination of both cell velocity and shape parameters related to RBC membrane deformability over an extended range of pressure drops, and the first quantitative comparison with theoretical results from the literature. Good agreement was found with the predicted axisymmetric shapes tending towards an apparent bullet-like asymptotic configuration at increasing cell velocity. A potential application of this work is in the design of flow-based devices to study the pathological conditions affecting cell deformability, thus allowing us to overcome the limits of classical static methods, such as micropipette aspiration, which are not suitable for handling a large number of cells.