Passive-Flow-Based MPS: Emerging Physiological Flow-Mimetic Platforms for Studying Effects of Flow on Single Tissues and Inter-tissue Interactions

초록

Flow at various scales, such as perfusion fl ow and interstitial fl ow, is a critical component of the physiology of living systems. Microphysiological system (MPS), which is designed to mimic human physiology, needs to recapitulate various physiologi- cal fl ows to accurately refl ect in vivo conditions. Most MPSs that simulate fl ows utilize a pump and tubing (pumped-based- fl ow MPS). However, these components have limitations that prevent them from recapitulating sophisticated physiological phenomena. Alternatively, passive-fl ow MPS can be used to recapitulate physiological fl ow on various scales without using pumps or tubing. This review presents recent developments in passive-fl ow-based MPS using various engineering approaches. To this end, engineering approaches that enable a passive-fl ow-based MPS to operate are summarized. Subsequently, repre- sentative examples of passive-fl ow-based MPS are reviewed under the criterion of whether they can recapitulate single-organ (tissue) or multi-organ (tissue) systems. It is our belief that passive-fl ow-based MPS will be widely used in a wide range of fi elds, such as human physiology research, analysis of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), and even space medicine research.

키워드