Controlled perfusion of 3D blood vessels-on-a-chip
December 2022
Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
Three-dimensional (3D) blood vessels on a chip (VoC) models integrate the biological complexity of vessel walls with dynamic microenvironmental parameters such as wall shear stress (WSS) and circumferential strain (CS). However, these parameters are difficult to control and often poorly reproducible due to the high intrinsic diameter variations of individual 3D VoCs. As a result, the throughput of current 3D systems is limited to one channel. Here, a fluidic circuit board (FCB) was developed for simultaneous perfusion of up to twelve 3D VoCs with a single set of control parameters. By appropriately designing the internal hydraulic resistors in the FCB, it was possible to deliver a preset WSS to all connected 3D VoCs despite significant differences in lumen diameters. Using this FCB, variations in CS or WSS were found to induce morphological changes in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived endothelial cells (ECs), and the authors concluded that control of these parameters using an FCB is necessary for the study of 3D VoCs.
Multiplexed fluidic circuit board for controlled perfusion of 3D blood vessels-on-a-chip
Valeria V. Orlova
Added on: 04-28-2023
[1] https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/LC/D2LC00686C
