Image Credit: SEM of blood corpuscles in clot. David Gregory & Debbie Marshall. Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
BIOMECHANICS AND MODELING IN MECHANOBIOLOGY PACK
Apply different mechanical stresses with one setup
Allows advanced molecular and morphological analysis of cells
Keep your cells at the right temperature under the microscope
Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology (BMM) setup
Our biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology pack allows the use of most commercial chips, enabling you to test several types of mechanical stimulus with only one pack of instruments.
The pack consists of the OB1 flow controller and a flow sensor to control the media supply to your cells and the desired mechanical stimulus. The level sensors are a fail-safe mechanism to prevent reservoir empties and your cells from being undesirably exposed to air.
The chip is placed inside our stage-top incubator so the cells are kept at the ideal temperature on top of the microscope stage during the experiment, and the mechanical stimulus’s effects can be followed in real-time. The supernatant can be collected for further molecular analysis.
Different chips can be employed with this setup. In the example below, the Microfluidic ChipShop chip 480 has been used to exert stretching stimulus on cells cultured on the membrane. It is important to note that the membrane may require customization to be suitable for trial assays.
The BMM pack includes:
- Stage top incubator (in development)
- An OB1 flow controller (Elveflow)
- A Microfluidic flow sensor (MFS or BFS, Elveflow)
- Several Falcon or Eppendorf reservoirs
- Tubings and luers
- Level sensors
- Microfluidic chips of choice (including home-made chips)
- User guide
- Control and automation software (Elveflow)
* The off-the-shelf membrane is intended for molecular transport assays. Customer-specific membranes can be used upon request to Microfluidic ChipShop.
Check our automated cell culture platform for more details on an integrated approach!
Types of mechanical stimuli
Several commercially available chips can perform mechanical stimulus analysis with our biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology setup. The setup can also be used with home-made chips. A quick exchange with our team can clarify the need for specific adapters.
For shear stress assays, Ibidi’s straight channel µ-Slide I Luer is a great option that can be easily used with our setup. The shear stress applied on top of the cells can be estimated by entering the dimensions of the chip into the Shear Stress calculator.
As shown above, the Microfluidic ChipShop chip 480 can be adapted to perform stretching assays. The chip comes with a porous cross-flow membrane intended to serve molecular transport across the chambers, but it can be customized upon request by the supplier.
Netri’s DuaLink Delta Ultra chips are a good option for confinement assays. These devices were designed especially for co-cultures and enhanced growth kinetics studies.
* The off-the-shelf membrane is intended for molecular transport assays. Customer-specific membranes can be used upon request to Microfluidic ChipShop.
Customize your pack
Our Packs, such as the Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology Pack, can be modified depending on your specific needs. In this light, our microfluidic specialists will advise you on the best instruments and accessories depending on your needs and will accompany you during the setup of the microfluidic platform.
– Check our other Packs for various applications –
Is the stage top incubator gas-tight?
No, the chamber allows gas exchange with the atmosphere.
Can the chamber be sterilized?
Yes, we have developed a simple protocol for sterilization and cleaning that is provided along with the user guide.
Can I buy individual instruments?
You can order the instruments on the product section of our website. For a more efficient purchase, drop us a line at innovation@microfluidic.fr!
