Simulating Red Blood Cells: From Physics to Microscopy Images
Simulated red blood cells and microscopy
A PhD researcher recounts building a boundary-integral method to simulate red blood cell dynamics, from reproducing the stomatocyte-discocyte-echinocyte shape sequence to modeling DIC microscopy. The simulations match experimental videos, capturing the 'breathing' pattern of cells in shear flow. The work combines membrane mechanics, fluid dynamics, and optics, with the goal of eventually reconstructing cell shapes from microscopy images.
I remember being fascinated by how much the cells deform under this chemical change.