Impact of the membrane viscosity on the tank-treading behavior of red blood cells

Numerical simulations are used to compare the impact of the internal fluid viscosity and the membrane viscosity on an isolated tank-treading red blood cell. Both decrease the tank-treading frequency, with moderate changes in the deformation and inclination of the red blood cell. However, it is shown that tank-treading frequencies from existing experiments are only retrieved if membrane viscosity is accounted for, and with an apparent shear-thinning of the membrane.