Transport of Spherical Particles Through Fibrous Media and a Row of Parallel Cylinders: Applications to Glomerular Filtration.

Viewed in renal physiology as a refined filtration device, the glomerulus filters large volumes of blood plasma while keeping proteins within blood circulation. Effects of macromolecule size and macromolecule hydrodynamic interaction with the nanostructure of the cellular layers of the glomerular capillary wall on the glomerular size selectivity are investigated through a mathematical simulation based on an ultrastructural model. The epithelial slit, a planar arrangement of fibers connecting the epithelial podocytes, is represented as a row of parallel cylinders with nonuniform spacing between adjacent fibers.