Anomalous Platelet Transport & Fat-Tailed Distributions

TL;DR

This paper challenges the traditional advection-diffusion model of platelet transport by demonstrating that their velocity distribution follows a fat-tailed Lévy flight, significantly impacting large-scale flux estimations and platelet function testing.

Contribution

It introduces a novel perspective showing platelet velocities follow a fat-tailed distribution, contrasting with the standard Brownian motion assumption.

Findings

Fat-tailed velocity distribution significantly affects large-scale platelet flux estimates.

Standard models underestimate platelet flux by several orders of magnitude.

Implications for the validity of current platelet function tests.

Abstract

The transport of platelets in blood is commonly assumed to obey an advection-diffusion equation. Here we propose a disruptive view, by showing that the random part of their velocity is governed by a fat-tailed probability distribution, usually referred to as a L\'evy flight. Although for small spatio-temporal scales, it is hard to distinguish it from the generally accepted "red blood cell enhanced" Brownian motion, for larger systems this effect is dramatic as the standard approach may underestimate the flux of platelets by several orders of magnitude, compromising in particular the validity of current platelet function tests.