In-Silico Medicine: Multiscale Modeling of Hematological Disorders

Human red blood cells (RBCs) have remarkable deformability, squeezing through narrow capillaries as small as three microns in diameter without any damage. Several pathological conditions, including malaria, sickle cell disease (SCD), and diabetes can alter the shape and deformability of circulating RBCs. Recent work demonstrates how new computational and analytical models can reveal the ways in which tiny inter-endothelial slits in the spleen prevent old or diseased RBCs from re-entering the systemic circulation. A general computational multiscale framework for RBC modeling is essential in quantifying the altered morphological and biomechanical properties of RBCs in the aforementioned diseases. One can apply this computational framework to other blood pathologies, e.g., in patients with cancer or HIV.