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Cells and Materials: At the Interface between Mathematics, Biology and EngineeringWorkshop II: Microfluidic Flows in Nature and Microfluidic TechnologiesApril 18 - 22, 2006Organizing Committee:
Andrea Bertozzi
(UCLA, Mathematics)
Scientific BackgroundConvective fluid transport is critical for most physiological processes. At the microscopic level it ranges from flow around a swimming Spirillum bacterium to active transport of molecules across membranes by pumps. Many life threatening diseases progress due to reduction in microfluidic flows. Diabetes affects transmural exchange in kidney nephrons and capillaries. Stroke and reperfusion injury interrupt capillary bloodflow. Edema results when fluid cannot escape a tissue, as occurs in compartment syndromes. In bone microfluidic transport - bone interstitial fluid flow (BIFF) - has been identified as the stimulus that is detected by osteocyte and osteoblast mechano-receptors and modulates their physiology. There is evidence that BIFF is generated by poroelastic deformation of the bone matrix and may be influenced by bone capillary blood pressure. Since the mechanical impulse modulating endothelial cells is fluid shear stress it is reasonable to propose that the same mechanism operates in bone cells. An alternative - possibly collateral - mechanism may be streaming potentials. Enhancement of BIFF may be the key to improving fracture healing and preventing osteoporosis. Appropriate BIFF assist devices may, accordingly, be worn during healing, prolonged periods of disuse (bed rest) and microgravity exposure. Microfluidic flows are also critical for maintenance of tissue engineered scaffolds. If the implant is erodible, convection will hasten decomposition. If it carries cytokines/growth factors convection will hasten their dissemination. If it is a bioreactor, i.e. carries functioning cells, convection will supply the nutrients to keep its seeded cells alive until host vasculature can penetrate the scaffold. Mathematical modeling of such flows in and around individual cells is relatively straightforward. Observations generating data which can be used to determine model coefficients are plentiful. In the intact organism, these data are less available. Accurate measurements from within the intact organ usually involve probes which disturb the flow being measured. Mathematical modeling and computation extrapolated from data from less invasive approaches can help decide which measures are "real" and which "artifacts". SpeakersArmand Ajdari (École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI))Michael Brenner (Harvard University) Ming-Cheng Cheng (Ohio State University Newark) Andrea Chow (Association for Laboratory Automation) John Frangos (La Jolla Bioengineering) Sandip Ghosal (Northwestern University) Chih-Ming Ho (UCLA) Anette Hosoi (MIT) John Kessler (University of Arizona) Abraham Lee (University of California, Irvine) Anna lin (Duke University) Darren Link (RainDance Technologies, Inc.) John Lowengrub (University of California, Irvine) Richard McLaughlin (University of North Carolina) Ali Nadim (Claremont Graduate University) Stephen Quake (Stanford University) Juan Santiago (Stanford University) Amy Shen (Washington University in St. Louis) Todd Squires (UC Santa Barbara) Howard Winet (UCLA) Wendy Zhang (University of Chicago) Contact Us:Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) |
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