  The microvascular networks in the body of vertebrates consist of the smallest
vessels such as arterioles, capillaries, and venules. The flow of RBCs through
these networks ensures the gas exchange in as well as the transport of
nutrients to the tissues. Any alterations in this blood flow may have severe
implications on the health state. Since the vessels in these networks obey
dimensions similar to the diameter of RBCs, dynamic effects on the cellular
scale play a key role. The steady progression in the numerical modeling of
RBCs, even in complex networks, has led to novel findings in the field of
hemodynamics, especially concerning the impact and the dynamics of lingering
events, when a cell meets a branch of the network. However, these results are
yet to be matched by a detailed analysis of the lingering experiments in vivo.
To quantify this lingering effect in in vivo experiments, this study analyzes
branching vessels in the microvasculature of Syrian golden hamsters via
intravital microscopy and the use of an implanted dorsal skinfold chamber. It
also presents a detailed analysis of these lingering effects of cells at the
apex of bifurcating vessels, affecting the temporal distribution of cell-free
areas of blood flow in the branches, even causing a partial blockage in severe
cases.
