Flow-induced segregation and dynamics of red blood cells in sickle cell disease

We present cell-scale simulations for an idealized model of blood flow in sickle cell disease (SCD): a confined binary suspension of flexible biconcave discoids and stiff curved prolate spheroids representing healthy and sickle RBCs, respectively. Like white blood cells and platelets, sickle cells are found to be driven from the bulk flow toward the walls (top image), a phenomenon called margination. Marginated sickle cells induce large transient peaks in wall shear stress (bottom image). These large, rapid stress fluctuations may lead to the blood vessel wall damage observed in SCD.