(237a) Dynamics of Spheroidal Capsules in Microfluidic Channels

The study of the motion and deformation of capsules and biological
cells in microfluidic channels is motivated by a wide range of
applications including drug delivery, capsule fabrication, cell sorting
and characterization, and its similarity to blood flow in vascular
capillaries. A number of experimental and computational studies have
investigated the motion of physiological and artificial capsules in
micro-capillaries and microchannels. Many computational studies have
focused on the dynamics of spherical capsules in a variety of microfluidic
devices.

However, artificial capsules can have other shapes due to their
fabrication. This has motivated the study of spheroidal capsules in
unconfined shear flows. In the present talk we investigate the motion and
deformation of an elastic spheroidal capsule in a microfluidic channel. We
consider a wide range of spheroidity, capsule size and flow rates. Our
results offer insight in the difficulties encountered in experimental
systems used for capsule characterization and moduli determination.