Figure 1.

Vascular Distribution of Red Blood Cells and Nanoparticles

Deformable red blood cells (RBCs) tend to accumulate within the vessel core, leaving a cell-depleted area (cell-free layer) next to the wall. Sub-micrometric and micrometric nanoconstructs, which are comparable in size to RBCs, tend to be pushed laterally and accumulate within the cell-free layer moving next to the vessel walls. In contrast, small nanoparticles can find their way within the shoal of RBCs and tend to be distributed quite uniformly across the blood vessel.⁴²