Contact: Christian Wagner
c.wagner@mx.uni-saarland.de
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Saarland University

Formation of Vortices

Caption: Plasma influences the formation of vortices in blood. In one experiment, the researchers let blood plasma flow through a microfluidic channel such as is found in a constricted blood vessel. They observed vortices at the end of the channel, but also -- as shown in these images -- at the entrance to the channel. These vortices are created because of the viscoelastic properties of blood plasma.

Credit: Mathias Brust, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 2013, 078305. Copyright (2013) by the American Physical Society

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