Blood-vessel-on-chip-pack

In simple words, what is the Blood Vessel-on-Chip Pack?

It is a perfusion system designed to simulate in vivo conditions of real vessel flow in vitro that is, controlled and measurable flow and shear stress across endothelial models, without pushing you into a proprietary single chip format. It is quite straightforward, maintain your biology model loose, but cause the fluidics to act as vasculature.

What is the type of flow that it can produce (how close to physiological conditions is it)?

The pack is built around the principles of pressure-driven control and flow sensing, such that you can set flow rates ranging between the very low microfluidic level of perfusion and relatively high level of vascular-like regimes. The mentioned is 0.5 µL/min – 5 mL/min, and programmable profiles can be linear ramps, pulsatile flow, and stepwise patterns. This is important in real-life situations since endothelial phenotype may quickly move when shear stress is approximately right as opposed to right.

Is it limited to a particular chip blood vessel, or can I use my own?

It is purposely non-chip specific. It is stated that the pack is compatible with commercially available chips and homemade devices (adaptors may be required depending on geometry/connectors). It is compatible with standard formats like PDMS homemade equipment, and popular commercial vendors (synvivo, ibidi, and Microfluidic Chipshop among others), and other platforms.

What are the biological models it supports- endothelial monolayers only?

Not only. The pack is stated to be applicable in circular tubules, monolayers and barrier models provided that they can be attached to a controlled loop of perfusion. When your installation is more niche (Multi-organ coupling, weird connectors, odd dead volumes), that is just where homemade adaptors and a brief engineering consultation tend to save weeks of experimentation.

So, what’s in the pack?

The out modules are known as core modules:

-A flow sensor (Galileo, MIC)

-A flow controller, which is a pressure-driven flow controller.

-A recirculation bridge (structure that allows the media to be recycled)

-Level sensors fitted on a smart culture tube rack.

-Software interface (Galileo user interface).

-Reservoirs (with several Falcon reservoirs), tubing and fittings.

-A microfluidic chip – of your choice (i.e. one that is chosen to fit your application).

-A user guide.

What is recirculation? what is fresh media and discarding?

There is recirculation in the instances where not only wasting media cost is involved. Recycling may (i) minimize overall media use in the case of long experiments (ii) conserve conditioned media and bioactive factors (iii) permit enrichment of the metabolites which can be more similar to what occurs in vivo. Naturally not all assays desire accumulation–but instead it is preferable to have it as a non-fixity instead of a constraint.

What does the setup do to minimize the possibility of running an experiment dry (or forcing air into the chip)?

The level sensors (combined with the smart culture tube rack) will serve to automate the process of switching the reservoirs and avoid disastrous occurrences: when leaked or depleted too fast, the system can be terminated before the reservoirs are emptied and air get into the cells. It is among those features which are boring, and which you find yourself interested in when you fail to have a culture of 10 days one time.

What assays and readouts can it be used in?

The page clearly indicates that it is compatible with standard microscopy procedures and supernatant assays, and provides examples of typical vascular / barrier measurements:

-TEER measurements

-Endothelial cell immunostaining.

-Fluorescent dyes perfusion assays.

-3D reconstructions

-Albumin reabsorption

-Pharmacokinetics-style assays

-Characterization, immunohistochemical / histopathological.

What are the most directly relevant scientific questions that this pack addresses?

There are some themes that are obviously underlined:

-Endothelial cell shear stress and effects of flow profiles.

-Under flow Migration and invasion/evasion of circulating tumor cells (CTCs).

-Under defined perfusion, there is a change in barrier integrity and permeability.

-Angiogenesis and vascularisation processes.

Is it possible to sterilize or autoclave the components?

The parts of the arrangement can be sterilized and the user manual is said to have detailed operations. Autoclaving is a protocol specific to each module (some modules can be subject to autoclaving, some are better served by chemical sterilization or filtration-compatible protocols), and as such is often not a protocol followed as a single instruction, but on a module-by-module basis.

Is the pack customizable to my specific application (channels, sensors, special chips)?

Yes, customization is also included in the offer. The examples provided are highly practical: you have to select the type of flow sensor and its size, determine the number of controller channels you require, and modify the pack to suit your chip manufacturer or your own home-made device. It is also here that a skilled microfluidics engineering collaborator will come in handy: you can skip some minor failure modes, such as compliance-induced oscillations, dead-volume dilution of your secreted factors, or placement of flow sensors that silently bias your readouts.

Is it ready to order or is it still in use?

The packs are mentioned as underdeveloped, with the eligibility criterion to be set aimed at maximizing the success rate, and a meeting with MIC experts is necessary to discuss needs and suggest a customized setup. Equally, separate instruments have been denoted as being in a beta-testing stage, in which case you can probably test them as an item, or a pack, but they are governed by a beta program and must not be purchased as an item of a completely standardized webshop.