In the past few decades, nanotechnology has been employed to provide breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of several diseases using drug-carrying particles (DCPs). In such an endeavor, the optimal design of DCPs is paramount, which necessitates the use of an accurate and trustworthy constitutive model in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulators. We herein introduce a continuum model for elaborating on the rheological implications of adding particles in blood. The model is developed using non-equilibrium thermodynamics to guarantee thermodynamic admissibility. Red blood cells are modeled as deformed droplets with a constant volume that are able to aggregate, whereas particles are considered rigid spheroids. The model predictions are compared favorably against rheological data for both spherical and non-spherical particles immersed in non-aggregating blood. It is expected that the use of this model will allow for the testing of DCPs in virtual patients and for their tailor-design in treating various diseases.

Graphical abstract

中文翻译：

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阐明在血液中添加颗粒的流变学意义

在过去的几十年中，纳米技术已被用于使用载药颗粒 (DCP) 在多种疾病的诊断和治疗方面取得突破。在这样的努力中，DCP 的优化设计至关重要，这需要在计算流体动力学 (CFD) 模拟器中使用准确且值得信赖的本构模型。我们在此介绍了一个连续模型，用于详细说明在血液中添加颗粒的流变学影响。该模型是使用非平​​衡热力学开发的，以保证热力学的可接受性。红细胞被建模为具有恒定体积的变形液滴，能够聚集，而颗粒被认为是刚性球体。模型预测与浸没在非聚集血液中的球形和非球形颗粒的流变学数据进行了有利的比较。预计该模型的使用将允许在虚拟患者中测试 DCP，并对其进行定制设计以治疗各种疾病。

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