Effects of RBC-RBC adhesion, RBC stiffness, hematocrit level and pulsatile flow pattern on the transport of platelets in the MA channels.

(A) Probability of platelets entering the MA lumen at an inlet blood flow velocity of 1.5 mm/s. Six different scenarios are examined, namely (i) RBCs without adhesion (red curve), (ii) RBCs with adhesion (blue curve), (iii) RBC with adhesion and increased stiffness (pink curve), (iv) normal RBCs with hematocrit level of 20% (green curve), (v) normal RBCs with hematocrit level of 10% (brown curve), (vi) normal RBCs with hematocrit level of 10% under pulsatile flow (brown dotted curve). (B) Residence time of platelets within the MAs at an inlet blood flow velocity of 1.5 mm/s. The same six scenarios as (A) are examined. The error bars are computed based on measurements of 20 platelets.