Magnetic resonance imaging of a microvascular-interstitium model on a microfluidic device

Recent Progress in the Development of Microfluidic Vascular Models

The blood vessel is part of the circulatory system, and systemic circulation provides the blood supply to all tissues. Arteries are pathways through which the blood is carried, and the capillaries have a key role in material exchange to maintain the tissue environment. Blood vessels have structures appropriate for their functions, and their sizes and cell types are different. In this review, we introduced recent studies of the microfluidic vascular models. The model structures are classified mainly as poly(dimethylsiloxane) and hydrogel microchannels and self-assembled networks. Basic phenomena and functions were realized in vascular models, including fluid shear stress, cell strain, interstitial flow, endothelial permeation, angiogenesis, and thrombosis. In some models, endothelial cells were co-cultured with smooth muscle cells, pericytes, and fibroblasts in an extracellular matrix. Examples of vascular models involving the brain, lung, liver, kidney, placenta, and cancer were also introduced.

A Membrane-integrated Microfluidic Device to Study Permeation of Nanoparticles through Straight Micropores toward Rational Design of Nanomedicines

Nanoparticles have been widely utilized to deliver drugs from blood vessels to target tissues. A crucial issue concerning nanoparticle-based drug delivery is to discuss the relationship between experimentally-obtained permeability and physical parameters. Although nanoparticles can permeate vascular pores, because the size and shape of the pores are essentially non-uniform, conventional animal testing and recent cell-based microfluidic devices are unable to precisely evaluate the effects of physical parameters (e.g. pore size and nanoparticle size) on permeation. In this study, we present a membrane-integrated microfluidic device to study permeation of nanoparticles through straight micropores. Porous membranes possessing uniform straight pores were utilized. The effects of pore size and pressure difference across the pores on nanoparticle permeation were examined. The experimentally determined permeability coefficient of 1.0 μm-pore membrane against 100 nm-diameter nanoparticles agreed well with the theoretical value obtained for convectional permeation. Our method can be utilized to clarify the relationship between the experimentally-obtained permeability and physical parameters, and will help rational design of nanomedicines.

In situ nuclear magnetic resonance microimaging of live biofilms in a microchannel

The firstin situnuclear magnetic resonance microimaging of live biofilms in a transferrable microfluidic platform.