Probing Mechanical Biomarkers with Microacoustofluidics: A Fluid-Structure Interaction Approach

PI：Costanzo，Francesco Proposal编号：1438126拟议工作的目标是研究可变形微粒之间的流体动力学相互作用，特别是微泡和细胞之间的流体动力学相互作用。这个想法是用激光在细胞旁边创造一个微气泡，然后使用声学方法获得关于细胞机械性能的信息。这些信息将主要用于诊断目的，但也用于治疗目的。细胞的机械特性可以作为致病过程的生物标记物的这一想法目前正被用于诊断疟疾，而且有一些证据表明，机械生物标记物可能用于诊断癌症。这项拟议的工作可以直接从流体力学研究走向应用。这项拟议的研究将导致更有效、更便宜、更快的基于细胞的芯片诊断和治疗设备。因此，这项研究可以对世界范围内的公共卫生产生重大影响。细胞力学特性已被发现是发病机制和病理生理学的有价值的指标。这导致了一类新的生物标记物的识别：机械生物标记物比传统的生化生物标记物具有一些优势。虽然文献中已经提出了一些基于机械生物标记物的微流控装置，但机械生物标记物在基于微流控的诊断和治疗中的全部潜力尚未被揭示。一个原因是，目前还没有技术可以用来定量评估细胞相对于作用在它们上的力的变形性。目前用于估计流动中物体辐射力的方法是基于理想几何形状(通常为球体)和流动中弹性夹杂的小变形的经典解。拟议的研究将使用基于浸没有限元方法的计算技术来促进这些领域的知识。其目的是将细胞变形性与施加在微流体装置中的细胞或一组细胞上的流体动力联系起来。所提出的计算框架的验证将通过在光热产生和声音激活的表面气泡微流控装置中对癌细胞进行实验来完成。联合PIS建议让本科生参与研究，并利用宾夕法尼亚州立大学现有的倡议，以接触到代表不足的少数族裔学生：工程女性项目和多元文化工程项目。该奖项由CBET部门的流体动力学项目共同资助，由生物基础设施部的生物研究仪器开发(IDBR)项目共同资助。

PI: Costanzo, FrancescoProposal Number: 1438126The objective of the proposed work is to study the hydrodynamic interactions between deformable microparticles, and specifically between a micro-bubble and a cell. The idea is to create a micro-bubble using a laser next to the cell, and then use acoustic methods to obtain information about the mechanical properties of the cell. Such information would be used mainly for diagnostic purposes, but also for therapeutic purposes. This idea that a cell's mechanical properties can be used as a biomarker for pathogenic processes is currently being used to diagnose malaria, and there is some evidence that mechanical biomarkers may be used to diagnose cancer. The proposed work could lead directly from fluid dynamics research to applications. The proposed research will lead to more effective, cheaper, and faster cell-based on-chip diagnostic and therapeutic devices. As such, this research can have a major impact on public health world-wide.Cellular mechanical properties have been found to be valuable indicators for pathogenesis and pathophysiology. This has led to the identification of a new class of biomarkers: mechanical biomarkers that offer some advantages over traditional biochemical biomarkers. While a number of mechanical biomarker-based microfluidic devices have already been proposed in the literature, the full potential of mechanical biomarkers in microfluidic-based diagnostics and therapeutics has yet to be revealed. One reason is the fact that no techniques are currently available for the quantitative assessment of cell deformability in relation to the forces acting on them. Current approaches for estimating the radiation forces on objects in streaming flows are based on classical solutions for idealized geometries (typically spheres) and small deformation of elastic inclusions in the flow. The proposed research will use computational techniques based on the immersed finite element method to advance knowledge in these areas. The goal is to relate cell deformability to the hydrodynamic forces imposed on a cell or on a group of cells in a microfluidic device. The validation of the proposed computational framework will be done against experiments with cancer cells in an opto-thermally-generated and acoustically-activated surface bubbles microfluidic device. The co-PIs propose to involve undergraduate students in research and to leverage already existing initiatives at Penn State in order to reach underrepresented minority students: the Women in Engineering Program and the Multicultural Engineering Program.This award by the Fluid Dynamics Program of the CBET Division is co-funded by the Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR) Program of the Division of Biological Infrastructure.