Session: 09-03: Computational Methods in Micro/ Nanoscale Transport

Paper Number: 132481

132481 - Thermal and Fluid Flow Behavior Within an Organ-on-a-Chip Model: A Molecular Dynamics Study 

Abstract: 

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and affects millions of people. Research for treatments for this disease often fails during clinical trials due to the inability of pre-in vitro trial phases to predict unwanted side effects. As 2D and 3D culture methods under static conditions did not accurately predict the human response, organ-on-a-chip (OoC) technology has recently emerged. OoCs are systems that enable to culture cells in a microfluidic environment, allowing the mimicking of organ functions on a microscale level. The interconnection of various OoCs through microfluidic channels allows the study of the behavior of multiple organs simultaneously, controlling volume and flow distributions to mimic physiological coupling in vivo, and as a result to, enable the creation of various subsystems of the human body. Thus, OoC is a promising way to revolutionize the drug development process, serving as an effective substitute for conventional methods (in vitro and animal models), deepening the understanding of disease mechanisms and testing new therapies, ultimately increasing the efficiency of medicine prediction. The OoC for cell culture would provide favourable conditions through control and monitoring of O₂ and CO₂ concentrations, pH, temperature, among others. Temperature, in particular, is a critical parameter for the occurrence of reproducible and precise physical, chemical, and biological reactions Hence, stable temperature control allows cell viability and control of pathological cells, such as those containing cancer. Temperature control can be achieved through different kinds of heating devices, and Joule heating is one of most effective, because it enables the production of miniaturized devices with faster heating rates. Numerical thermal and flow studies inside the OoCs are extremely important to better understand the physical phenomena that occur within this platform. The aim of the present work is to employ both conventional techniques to study homogeneous fluids and atomistic techniques to investigate heterogeneous fluids (such as molecular dynamics) flowing within a OoC. Molecular Dynamics discretizes the domain into particles, defining their behavior through parametrized force fields and their dynamics using numerical integration algorithms of Newton’s laws of motion. The use of both techniques allows for the characterization and optimization of the system under study, examining heat transfer from the generating element and the flow that happens within the OoC. Thus, it is possible to obtain details of the motion and temperature of the fluid over time and reduce the number of experiments needed to gain insight into expected experimental outcomes. In this way, it is possible to have high reproduction rate of real models and to reduce the number of prototypes. In summary, the influence of temperature and fluid flow inside the OoC for the treatment of cancer cells is evaluated, with the heat generator being optimized and the OoC geometry optimized.

Presenting Author: Ana Moita IN+ Center for Innovation; CINAMIL

Presenting Author Biography: PhD (2009), MSc (2004) and Diploma Engineer (2001) in Mechanical Engineering in Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Ana Moita is a senior researcher in IN+, Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research/Instituto Superior Técnico, and an Assistant Prof at Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa. A.S. Moita developed a strong background in wettability modification strategies, including micro-and-nanostructuring techniques applied to surface modification. In the last years, she has deepened these activities for microscale applications, towards devising microfluidic devices for thermal (energy conversion) and biomedical applications. PI/co-Pi of several national and international projects she prepares all the work of the Laboratory of Interfacial plus Microscale Phenomena at IN+ since 2014. Currently she has several projects in collaboration with the industry including a large project with UFRJ - Brasil and Petrobrás, towards the development of a microchannel based heat sink to cool high concentration photovoltaic panels. Through her work and scientific recognition she gained support from a strong national and international network. Being the supervisor of 6 PhD's (5 in progress), more than 50 Master Thesis, 3 Bachelor Thesis and 9 working stages (collaborative international programmes), A.S. Moita regularly lectures Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Heat and Mass Transfer, Experimental Methods in Energy and Environment among other subjects. A.S. Moita was an invited lecturer in 12 international conferences/workshops in the last 5years. Also, A.S. Moita has been an invited lecturer for seminars in several international and national universities. She received 4 awards/distinctions. She is reviewer for numerous international conferences, more than 70 journals and 5 funding agencies (including ESA projects), being part of the scientific and or technical committee of 22 international conferences/workshops. A.S. Moita published 8 book chapters, more than 80 peer reviewed journal papers, most in Q1 and Q2 journals and around 100 conference papers (H=24, more than 1937 citations). She is Guest-Editor in 7 SI's in Applied Science, Energies and Symmetry, journals from MDPI and part of the Editorial board of Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, Elsevier, since august 2022.

Authors:

Filipe Barbosa Mechanical Engineering and Resource Sustainability Center (METRICS)
Violeta Carvalho Mechanical Engineering and Resource Sustainability Center (METRICS); ALGORITMI Center/LASI; Center for MicroElectromechanical Systems (CMEMS-UMinho); LABBELS—Associate Laboratory
Glauco Nobrega Mechanical Engineering and Resource Sustainability Center (METRICS)
Diana Pinho Center for MicroElectromechanical Systems (CMEMS-UMinho); LABBELS—Associate Laboratory
Jorge Dueñas-Pamplona Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Cristiano Abreu Instituto Superior de Eng. do Porto; Center for MicroElectromechanical Systems (CMEMS-UMinho); LABBELS—Associate Laboratory
Senhorinha Teixeira ALGORITMI Center/LASI
Rui Lima Mechanical Engineering and Resource Sustainability Center (METRICS); CEFT—Transport Phenomena Research Center; ALiCE - Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering
Ana Moita IN+ Center for Innovation; CINAMIL