| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立清華大學 === 動力機械工程學系 === 98 === Atherosclerosis is the major cause behind Coronary Artery Disease and Angina Pectoris. Cholesterol deposits on the inner surface of the artery leading to change in the arterial fluid field, especially near the arterial branches and curvatures. Leukocytes are likely to adhere on the surface where the fluid field is disturbed, leading to gradual decrease in the arterial diameter. This leads to insufficient supply of blood i.e. nutrients to the cardiac muscles, leading to increased load on the heart due to injury of cardiac muscles.
Scientists have gained insight in vascular function and dysfunction but still lot of work has to be done. Recently, microfluidic technology is gaining interest in vascular research due to its ability to mimic the 3D vascular microenvironment. Immunological research is focused on adhesion of leucocytes on endothelial cells during blood circulation and the complex fluid dynamics present there in. The immunological research is divided into two parts. Some scientists believe that the leukocyte migration to the injured tissue is due to the chemotactic stimulus and some are trying to study the relation between the leucocytes and the surface receptors on endothelial cells. However, both the phenomena are linked to each other.
We have designed a complex and reusable microfluidic chip which mimics the capillary endothelial lining, imitating the hemodynamic factor to study the extravasation behavior of neutrophils. We believe that our unique microfluidic device will help scientists to gain insight in vascular research.
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