Simulation of fluid flow in a microfluidic brain slice device (mBSD)

Microfluidic perfusion systems for thick brain slice cultures enable the control of in vitro microenvironments. Since the purpose of in vitro tissue culture is often to investigate the function of live tissue, devices must be developed to both test and keep samples alive. In our previous work [1] we developed a microfluidic brain slice device (BSD) consisting of a standard perfusion chamber bonded to a PDMS microchannel substrate. Even though our experimental setup allowed perfusion and site-specific stimulation of brain slices with neurotransmitters; the mechanism behind the fluid transport over the perfusion bath and through the microchannels was not fully understood. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize a μBSD for its use in controlled electrophysiology investigations. To accomplish these tasks a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation was preformed with CFD-ACE+ software [2] to model, simulate, and assess the transport of soluble factors through a μBSD. The image shown here represents the model (top), simulation (middle) and transport’s assessment (bottom) of fluid transport over the perfusion bath and through the microchannels of a μBSD. [1] J. S. Mohammed, H. H. Caicedo, C. P. Fall, and T. D. Eddington, Microfluidic Add-On for Standard Electrophysiology Chambers. The Royal Society of Chemistry: Lab on a Chip, 2008. Vol. 8, pp. 1048-1055. [2] CFD-ACE+, V2008.2, Users Manual, CFD Research Corporation, Huntsville, AL, USA, 2008.