Delivery of Worm-like Drug Carriers in Stenotic Mrcovessels: A Simulation Study

Abstract

We present in this study two-dimensional numerical simulations of hydrodynamic interaction between red blood cells (RBCs) and worm-like drug carriers in a stenotic microvessel. The dynamics of the blood flow and large deformation of the RBC are fully resolved in the simulations using a fictitious domain/immersed boundary method. We find margination of worm-like drug carriers and this phenomenon depends on factors such as drug stiffness, RBC deformability, and flow velocity. In particular, the stiffer drug carriers has higher probability to migrate and stay in the cell free layer. In additional, tumbling is observed for drug carriers at near wall location and this behavior is not found for RBCs which suggests that the worm-like structure may play an important role. Our investigation provides an understanding of the hemodynamic effects of drug carriers in microcirculation and will help in clinical implementation of drug delivery.