Zhang Wei, Dong Jun, Lv Huimin, Bai Weitao, Lu Hongzhou, Noack Bernd R, Zhu Yonggang, Yang Yue
School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
National Clinical Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen (The Second Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen 518112, China.
Micromachines (Basel). 2022 Mar 20;13(3):485. doi: 10.3390/mi13030485.
Understanding the mechanism of particle transport and sedimentation in pulmonary alveolus is important for deciphering the causes of respiratory diseases and helping the development of drug delivery. In this study, taking advantage of the microfluidic technique, an experimental platform was developed to study particle behavior in a rhythmically expanding alveolar chip for a sufficient number of cycles. The alveolar flow patterns at different generations were measured for two cases with the gravity direction parallel or vertical to the alveolar duct. Affected by both the vortex flow inside the alveoli and the shear flow in the duct simultaneously, it was observed that particles inside the alveoli either escaped from the inlet of the alveolar duct or stayed in the alveoli, revealing the irreversibility of particle transport in the alveoli. At the earlier acinar generations, particles were inclined to deposit on the distal alveolar wall. The settling rates of particles of different sizes in the alveoli were also compared. This study provides valuable data for understanding particle transport and sedimentation in the alveoli.
了解肺泡内颗粒运输和沉降的机制对于解读呼吸道疾病的病因以及推动药物递送的发展具有重要意义。在本研究中，利用微流控技术开发了一个实验平台，用于在有节奏扩张的肺泡芯片中研究颗粒行为，进行足够数量的循环。针对重力方向与肺泡管平行或垂直的两种情况，测量了不同代的肺泡流动模式。同时受到肺泡内的涡流和管道内的剪切流的影响，观察到肺泡内的颗粒要么从肺泡管入口逸出，要么留在肺泡内，揭示了颗粒在肺泡内运输的不可逆性。在腺泡的早期代，颗粒倾向于沉积在远端肺泡壁上。还比较了肺泡内不同大小颗粒的沉降速率。本研究为理解颗粒在肺泡内的运输和沉降提供了有价值的数据。
