  The development of blood-handling medical devices, such as ventricular assist
devices, requires the analysis of their biocompatibility. Among other aspects,
this includes hemolysis, i.e., red blood cell damage. For this purpose,
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods are employed to predict blood flow
in prototypes. The most basic hemolysis models directly estimate red blood cell
damage from fluid stress in the resulting flow field. More advanced models
explicitly resolve cell deformation. On the downside, these models are
typically written in a Lagrangian formulation, i.e., they require pathline
tracking. We present a new Eulerian description of cell deformation, enabling
the evaluation of the solution across the whole domain. The resulting hemolysis
model can be applied to any converged CFD simulation due to one-way coupling
with the fluid velocity field. We discuss the efficient numerical treatment of
the model equations in a stabilized finite element context. We verify the model
by comparison to the original Lagrangian formulation in selected benchmark
flows. Two more complex test cases demonstrate the method's capabilities in
real-world applications. The results highlight the advantages over previous
hemolysis models. In conclusion, the model holds great potential for the design
process of future generations of medical devices.
