The "bolus flow" solution of the plasma between the red blood cells flowing through a capillary.

Abstract

In this paper, we have derived an approximate "Bolus Flow" solution between two adjacent red blood cells (RBC) in a capillary, using the Galerkin method and numerical smoothing technique, and then examined in detail the effects of the ratio lambda of the diameter of the RBC to that of the capillary and those of the leakback Q in the thin lubrication layer on the Bolus Flow. Because of the simplicity of the method employed here, only a small amount of numerical calculation is involved. Furthermore, we have rectified somewhat unreasonable formulation of the boundary conditions presented previously so as to match the Bolus Flow with the flow in the lubrication layer. The results are reasonably in agreement with other theories, providing correct boundary conditions for the determination of the deformation of RBC.