Biomechanics of Bio-Fluid in the Microfluidic Channels Using Computer Simulations

Abstract

In this paper, optimizing microfluidic technologies through a multiple channel network in a organ-on-a-chip (OOC) system which is a type of cell culture chip mechanics system were suggested. Using numerical and computer programming, this paper studied the micro-fluid flow in organ-on-a-chip microfluidic systems considering factors such as flow pattern, optimal flow rate and flow uniformity. For the purposes of this paper, micro-fluidic channels with a circular cross section were chosen due to its low fabrication complexity. MATLAB computer code was developed to investigate how the flow rate Q would change based on a variety of factors through both an iteration analysis using continuity equation and modified Bernoulli equation, and the Hardy-cross method which is an alternate iterative method. Ultimately, we found that flow rate Q had a quadratic relationship to length/diameter of the channel in both iterative methods.