Research

Funded projects

SIRIUS (ERC) – concluded

Placenta (EPSRC) – concluded

EMBOSS (EPSRC) – concluded

SynBIM (EPSRC) – concluded

Research themes

Microfluidics modelling

Blood cells in deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) geometry

Our group is investigating how microfluidic devices can be designed and employed to characterise and separate particles, most prominently biological particles, such as blood cells, bacteria or cancer cells. The primary applications are lab-on-chip devices for point-of-care diagnostics. This includes deterministic lateral displacement (DLD), inertial microfluidics and other approaches. The challenge is the complex interaction of particle dynamics, device geometry and fluid flow.

Five latest publications

  • B. Owen, T. Krüger, R. Hay, C. Ghera, C. Macaraniag, J. Zhou, I. Papautsky. Numerical analysis of the size-based, shear-induced separation of circulating tumour cells from white blood cells in liquid biopsies. bioRxiv
  • C. Mallorie, B. Schneeweis, M. Pitzek, C. Holzner, C. Lidl, S. de Cleir, N. Milanovic, D. Foglia, T. Krüger, T.R. Carey. Optimization of Injection-Molded Thermoplastic Microfluidic Chip Design with Numerical Modeling and Two-Photon Polymerization 3D Printing. bioRxiv
  • L. Koens, R. Vernekar, T. Krüger, M. Lisicki, D.W. Inglis. The slow viscous flow around doubly-periodic arrays of infinite slender cylinders. IMA J. Appl. Math. 88, 869-887 (2024) arXiv, Oxford Academic
  • C. Mallorie, R. Vernekar, B. Owen, D.W. Inglis, T. Krüger. Numerical analysis of flow anisotropy in rotated-square deterministic lateral displacement devices at moderate Reynolds number. Phys. Rev. Fluids 9, 024203 (2024) bioRxiv, PRF
  • B. Owen, K. Thota, T. Krüger. Numerical investigation of heterogeneous soft particle pairs in inertial microfluidics. Soft Matter 20, 887 (2024) bioRxiv, Royal Society

Blood flow modelling

Flow of red blood cells in retinal vasculature

The understanding of blood flow in health and disease is a central research topic in Engineering and Medicine. Typical diseases affecting or affected by blood flow are cancer, hypertension, diabetes and malaria. My group is developing advanced models and software to characterise particulate blood flow in capillary networks, tumour vasculature and the retina. Most of the blood flow modelling in my group is microscopic, which means that blood cells and their flow-induced deformations are resolved. This requires fluid-structure interaction algorithms, such as lattice Boltzmann, finite elements and immersed boundaries.

Five latest publications

  • E. Pero, G. Tomaiuolo, S. Guido, C. Denham, T. Krüger. Haematocrit and Shear Rate Modulate Local Cell-free Layer Thickness and Platelet Margination in Blood Flow Along a Sinusoidal Wall. arXiv
  • H.M. Szafraniec, F. Bull, J.M. Higgins, H.A. Stone, T. Krüger, P. Pearce, D.K. Wood. Suspension physics govern the multiscale dynamics of blood flow in sickle cell disease.Sci. Adv. 12, eadx3842 (2026) bioRxiv, Science
  • R. Enjalbert, J. Köry, T. Krüger, M.O. Bernabeu. Abnormal vasculature reduces overlap between drugs and oxygen in a tumour computational model: implications for therapeutic efficacy. PLoS Comput. Biol. 21, e1013801 (2025) bioRxiv, PLoS
  • R. Enjalbert, T. Krüger, M.O. Bernabeu. Effect of vessel compression on blood flow in microvascular networks: implications for tumour tissue hypoxia. Commun. Phys. 7, 49 (2024) bioRxiv, Nature
  • A. Jötten, A. Schepp, A. Machon, K. Moll, M. Wahlgren, T. Krüger, C. Westerhausen. Survival of P. falciparum infected Red Blood Cell Aggregates in Elongational Shear Flow. Lab Chip 24, 787 (2024) Research Square, Royal Society

Complex flow modelling

Soft capsule at liquid-liquid interface

There is no unique and clear definition of “complex flows”. It can be understood as a research field involving fluid flow coupled with additional physical mechanisms, such as diffusion, surface tension (capillary effects), phase change (e.g. boiling) and particle growth/precipitation out of solution. In the BioFM group, the unifying element is the lattice-Boltzmann method (see our book).

Five latest publications

  • A.A. Alyahya, M.S. Tovar-Oliva, B.G. Malimusi, S. Murcia-López, T. Krüger, Ignacio Tudela. Continuum modelling of the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to multiple products in gas diffusion electrodes: Interplay of kinetics, transport, intermediate availability and gas-phase hydrodynamics.
  • K. Suzuki, E. Falagkaris, T. Krüger, T. Inamuro. Accuracy and stability of the accelerated multi-direct-forcing immersed boundary method. arXiv
  • C. Leishman, Z. Hu, B. Duheric, K. Aggett, K. Li, N.F. Dummer, G.J. Hutchings, T. Krüger, F.R. García-García. On-board methanol production using a hollow fibre-based reactor: modelling and experimental validation. Chem. Eng. J. (in press), ScienceDirect
  • M. Pepona, A. Shek, C. Semprebon, T. Krüger, H. Kusumaatmaja. Modelling ternary fluids in contact with elastic membranes. Phys. Rev. E 103, 022112 (2021) arXiv, PRE
  • M. Wouters, O. Aouane, T. Krüger, J. Harting. Mesoscale simulation of soft particles with tunable contact angle in multi-component fluids. Phys. Rev. E 100, 033309 (2019). arXiv, PRE