ABSTRACT
The importance of blood can never be overemphasized. Continuously circulating through the body, blood performs many crucial functions, including supply of oxygen and nutrients to and removal of waste from tissues, circulation of white blood cells (WBCs), antibodies, and platelets for immunization and self-repair, and regulation of body pH and temperature. Therefore, as observed in clinical practices and fundamental studies, abnormal blood ows are often associated with various disorders and diseases, such as heart diseases, hypertensions, diabetes, malaria, anemia, ischemia, atherosclerosis, and thrombosis. In addition, blood ow behaviors are also important to many biomedical applications, for example, blood substitutes, blood contacting devices, and cardiopulmonary bypass.
