Effect of red blood cells on mass transfer in the brain capillary

The effects of red blood cells on mass transfer in brain capillaries have been investigated using a novel hybrid method that includes the immersed boundary and lattice Boltzmann method. For simulation of the flow, the multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann and for simulation of mass transfer across the capillary wall, the single-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann is used. The present results indicate that an increase in hematocrit and biophysical characteristics such as bending and elastic modules of red blood cells, not only affects the red blood cells shapes and velocities, but also influences the mass transfer by means of diffusion in capillaries. In fact, there is a direct relation between wall shear stress and mass diffusion across the capillary wall.