Education
Master Thesis: DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A MICROVASCULATURE-ON-A-CHIP PLATFORM WRITTEN BY ESTHER VAN DER AA
During my master thesis I designed and fabricated a Microvasculature-on-a-Chip Platform, which was a project in the Microsystems group. This means that we’ve made a model capable of mimicking the blood vessels, which can be used to investigate flow and distribution of particles inside the vasculature. The vascular structures are made using sugar and a 3D printing machine and combining this with a flow through the channels and a cell lining on the channel wall, this is a simple representation of a blood vessel. This subject might not be the first thing you think about when you think about Mechanical Engineering, so I will try to tell you something more about this interesting application of Mechanical Engineering!
The vasculature plays a crucial role for humans, as blood vessels deliver oxygen and nutrients to every part of the body. However, the blood vessels are also used by tumors to spread cancer cells throughout the body which sustains or even worsens the disease. Furthermore, blood vessels exist in and near tumors which are different from the blood vessels found in healthy tissue, mostly characterized by abnormal vessel growth. This means that the vessels form a disorganized network and the number of vessels is much higher. These blood vessels provide the tumor with
oxygen and nutrients, which helps the tumor to grow even further. As cancer is still the second leading cause of death in the world, it is essential to further expand our knowledge of blood vessel growth and behaviour associated with cancer. This can lead to a better understanding of the disease and even to earlier or better detection of tumors. To achieve this, we need a model that mimics the microvasculature, so that this platform can for example be used to investigate flow and distribution of particles inside the vasculature.
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