Figure 4. The average lateral displacement per post encounter l of RBCs in each individual section of thin device at various viscosity contrasts C = η_i/η_o.

(a) Data for the thin device at physiological viscosity contrast C = 5. Transition to zig-zag modes is the same in experiments and simulations, occurring between sections 7 and 8. However, evolution of zig-zag modes with section number shows discrepancies due to inherent variability in RBC size. (b) Data for the thin device at viscosity contrasts C = 1 and C = 2. Transition to zig-zag modes at contrast C = 2 occurs between sections 7 and 8 for simulations and experiments, whereas the transition at C = 1 occurs in section 10 for the simulations. Again, variability between experimental and simulation results can be attributed to the inherent variability in RBC diameter.