A review on rheology of non-Newtonian properties of blood

Human blood is composed of red cells, white blood cells, and platelets in a fluid called plasma that contains organic and mineral salts and protein. The rheological characteristics of blood are determined by the properties of these combinations and their interaction with each other. The plasma is essentially a Newtonian fluid, but the blood as a whole behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid showing all signs of non-Newtonian rheology including deformation rate dependency, viscoelasticity, yield stress, and thixotropy. The purpose of this study is mainly a review based on past work on blood rheology, determinants of blood viscosity, yield stress, thixotropy, blood viscosity measurement, and heat transfer in blood flow to better understand the non-Newtonian effect in the blood circulation system.