EETimes Florida reports that in the future research on the causes and prevention of cardiovascular disease will not only limit the culture of heart cells in dissecting rats or petri dishes. At Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, medical researchers are trying to make use of a newly developed micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) microfluidic chip to achieve this goal. The chip mimics the precise blood flow in the arteries when fat and cholesterol accumulate on internal arterial wall plaques. In living tissue, the resulting atherosclerosis limits blood flow and can lead to heart attacks. The chip is the most cattle where it is able to simulate the inflammatory response of cardiac vascular cells, this response can cut off the blood supply. If these reactions can be suppressed, then heart disease will not happen. In the experiment, researchers first used artificial blood to perfect the flow path through microfluidic "blood vessels" and then simulated the inflammation that needed to be eliminated using real blood to prevent a heart attack. Because the responses of the cells lining the blood vessels can be closely observed on the chip, the team claims that their approach to modeling atherosclerosis is far superior to methods that use cultured cells or laboratory animal simulations. The team hopes to learn how to regulate vasoconstriction by a variety of means to prevent or at least mitigate a heart attack. So far, researchers have focused on the overall biomechanics of cardiac blood flow and accurately mimicked the shape and geometry of the heart's blood vessels to pinpoint the cause of vasoconstriction. This inch-only chip has two stacked chambers separated by a flexible polymer membrane to simulate the conditions that lead to a heart attack. The bottom chamber contains compressed air and the top chamber contains blood (or blood sample test fluid). To accurately model a real heart, the researchers cultured endothelial cells from the coronary veins and filled them with a fluid-filled chamber. The system operates by pumping air into a flexible plenum, pushing the membrane to simulate blocked blood flow in the blocked artery. To simulate atherosclerosis on a chip and to assess vascular stenosis and blood health before a heart attack The researchers found that endothelial cells release a protein that causes atherosclerosis as the blood vessels become more clogged. When real blood simulations are used, the accumulation of immune cells progresses more quickly into plaque-blocking lipids in the arteries. According to Han Weihou, head of chip development, the chip mimics the accuracy of these well-known heart precursors, making it the ideal device to test new therapies. Neodymium Cup Magnets,Strong Neodymium Bar Magnets,Super Strong Neodymium Magnet,Strong Neodymium Magnet Dongguan Zhenglong Magnet Co., Ltd , https://www.zlmagent.com