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Calculations of oxygen transport by red blood cells and hemoglobin solutions in capillaries

Artificial Cells, Blood Substitutes, and Immobilization Biotechnology, ISSN: 1073-1199, Vol: 30, Issue: 3, Page: 157-188
2002
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A theoretical model is developed to investigate the influence of hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) on oxygen transport in capillary-size vessels. A discrete cell model is presented with red blood cells (RBCs) represented in their realistic parachute shape flowing in a single file through a capillary. The model includes the free and Hb-facilitated transport of O and Hb-O kinetics in the RBC and plasma, diffusion of free O in the suspending phase, capillary wall, interstitium and tissue. A constant tissue consumption rate is specified that drives the simultaneous release of O from RBC and plasma as the cells traverse the capillary. The model mainly focuses on low capillary hematocrits and studies the effect of free hemoglobin affinity, cooperativity and concentration. The results are expressed in the form of cell and capillary mass transfer coefficients, or inverse transport resistances, that relate the spatially averaged flux of O coming out of the RBC and capillary to a driving force for O diffusion. The results show that HBOCs at a concentration of 7 g/dl reduce the intracapillary transport resistance by as much as 60% when capillary hematocrit is 0.2. HBOCs with high O affinity unload most O at the venular end, while those with low affinity supply O at the arteriolar end. A higher cooperativity did not favor O delivery due to the large variation in the mass transfer coefficient values during O unloading. The mass transfer coefficients obtained will be used in simulations of O transport in complex capillary networks.

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