The Size of Red Blood Cells Regulates the Extent of Pulmonary Capillary Diameter Effect on Pulmonary Gas Exchange Process

Abstract

The efficiency of the pulmonary gas exchange process is of great importance for human body homeostasis. In this paper, effect of two important factors, namely pulmonary capillary diameter and red blood cells (RBCs) surface area, on the efficiency of this process is studied. To this purpose, a previously published model consisting of a 2-D geometry is adopted to simulate the system. Results show that simultaneous increase of the pulmonary capillary diameter and RBC surface area synergistically increases oxygen saturation time of RBCs. Furthermore, we show that the efficiency of the system enhances by increasing RBC surface area and decreasing pulmonary capillary diameter. We identified that the type of influence that pulmonary capillary exerts to the systems efficiency depends on the value of RBC surface area. Results of this study highlight the importance of RBC viable surface area in the process of pulmonary gas exchange.