I did a test today that turned-out quite nicely with BIG help from our friend, Newton Dynamics... (attached 4mb QT)
Basically, I made a 'beer-bong' (a funnel on top and a long tube) and set about 50 lathed 'Platelets' above it, set the gravity to -5%... and simulated! Afterwards, I wanted the animation to be slower and smoother- so I 'group-grabbed' all the simulated keyframes from the 50 Platelets and spread them out... I used a SYMBIONT material called 'Plush' to texture the platelet and the vein.
The client wanted this to be a 'medical-meets-anime' look, so I toon-rendered and regular rendered and combined the 2 in After Effects. For a quick half-day test, not tooo bad- should win the gig. methinks.
PUBLICOM_Cardio.mov