Using 3D fluid–structure interaction model to analyse the biomechanical properties of erythrocyte

This Letter presents a newly developed three-dimensional fluid–structure interaction model of the red blood cell (RBC). The model consists of a deformable liquid capsule modelled as Newtonian fluid enclosed by a hyperelastic membrane with viscoelastic property. Numerical results show that viscosity in the cytoplasm affects the deformed shape of RBC under loading. This observation is contrary to the earlier belief that viscosity of the cytoplasm can be neglected. Numerical simulations carried out to investigate large deformation induced on the RBC model using direct tensile forces show significant improvement in terms of correlation with experimental results. The membrane shear modulus estimated from the model ranges between 3.7 to 9.0 μNm−1 compares well with results obtained from micropipette aspiration experiments.