Influence of the Inlet Velocity on Oxygen Gradients in a Liver-on-a-Chip Model

Abstract

Cancer continues to be one of the diseases that most affect the population around the world and different lines of research have been conducted to develop new therapies. However, a critical problem in this process is the lack of suitable in vitro preclinical platforms to assess the drug targets, toxicity, and efficacy. In order to surpass these issues, organ-on-a-chip (OoC) platforms emerged as a potential alternative for two-dimensional in vitro models, and computational simulations have played an important role. This tool boosts and supports the development process of OoC devices. Moreover, through numerical simulations, an overview of the fluid flow can be obtained which is useful for getting insights about the expected experimental results. Nevertheless, attention must be taken when defining the boundary conditions, fluid properties, and solution methods among other parameters that will affect the end results. In this regard, the aim of the present work is to evaluate the influence of varying the boundary conditions on the oxygen gradients along the liver-on-a-chip, namely imposing different velocities at the inlet and considering or not the convective term. It was found that for the OoC tested, by increasing the inlet velocity, the dissolved oxygen that reaches the organoids decreases.