In vitro systems for applying mechanical strain to cultured cells are commonly used to investigate cellular mechanotransduction pathways in a variety of cell types. These systems often apply mechanical forces to a flexible membrane on which cells are cultured. A consequence of the motion of the membrane in these systems is the generation of flow and the unintended application of shear stress to the cells. We recently described a flexible system for applying mechanical strain to cultured cells, which uses a linear motor to drive a piston array to create biaxial strain within multiwell culture plates. To better understand the fluidic stresses generated by this system and other systems of this type, we created a computational fluid dynamics model to simulate the flow during the mechanical loading cycle. Alterations in the frequency or maximal strain magnitude led to a linear increase in the average fluid velocity within the well and a nonlinear increase in the shear stress at the culture surface over the ranges tested (0.5–2.0 Hz and 1–10% maximal strain). For all cases, the applied shear stresses were relatively low and on the order of millipascal with a dynamic waveform having a primary and secondary peak in the shear stress over a single mechanical strain cycle. These findings should be considered when interpreting experimental results using these devices, particularly in the case when the cell type used is sensitive to low magnitude, oscillatory shear stresses.
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Research-Article
Computational Analysis of Fluid Flow Within a Device for Applying Biaxial Strain to Cultured Cells
Jason Lee,
Jason Lee
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
University of Texas at Austin
,Austin, TX 78712
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Aaron B. Baker
Aaron B. Baker
1
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
e-mail: abbaker1@gmail.com
University of Texas at Austin
,107 West Dean Keeton Street
,BME 5.202D, C0800
,Austin, TX 78712
e-mail: abbaker1@gmail.com
1Corresponding author.
Search for other works by this author on:
Jason Lee
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
University of Texas at Austin
,Austin, TX 78712
Aaron B. Baker
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
e-mail: abbaker1@gmail.com
University of Texas at Austin
,107 West Dean Keeton Street
,BME 5.202D, C0800
,Austin, TX 78712
e-mail: abbaker1@gmail.com
1Corresponding author.
Manuscript received September 5, 2014; final manuscript received January 10, 2015; published online March 5, 2015. Assoc. Editor: Jeffrey Ruberti.
J Biomech Eng. May 2015, 137(5): 051006 (7 pages)
Published Online: May 1, 2015
Article history
Received:
September 5, 2014
Revision Received:
January 10, 2015
Online:
March 5, 2015
Citation
Lee, J., and Baker, A. B. (May 1, 2015). "Computational Analysis of Fluid Flow Within a Device for Applying Biaxial Strain to Cultured Cells." ASME. J Biomech Eng. May 2015; 137(5): 051006. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4029638
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