The Microfluidics and Soft Matter Team led by Professor Anderson Ho Cheung Shum at the Faculty of Engineering has developed a breakthrough fluidic system called VasFluidics. This system is inspired by the natural blood vascular network and has functionalisable membrane walls similar to blood vessel walls. The VasFluidics system can modulate fluid compositions via spatially-different reactions between fluids and channel walls, which is not achievable in traditional fluidic systems. This innovative discovery has been published in Nature Communications and has the potential for various biomedical applications.
The research team, led by Yafeng Yu, the first author of the study, was inspired by the precise control over blood compositions in blood vessels and aimed to design new fluidic systems based on this concept. The thin, soft walls of VasFluidics channels can change liquid compositions through physical or chemical means, similar to the processes that occur in the human body. By coating channel regions with solutions or enzymes, specific molecules can pass through the channel walls or undergo chemical changes, mimicking biological processes such as glucose metabolism.
Using a combination of 3D printing and self-assembly of soft materials, the research group was able to fabricate VasFluidic devices with functionalisable membrane walls. This technique allows for the assembly of soft membranes on the liquid-liquid interface, enabling precise control over fluid compositions within the channels. The team envisions that VasFluidics can be used in a variety of applications, such as designing microtubule structures, bioinks, and artificial blood vessel models for biomedical applications like organ-on-chip and organoids.
Dr. Wei Guo, a Research Assistant Professor in Professor Shum’s group, emphasized the scientific merits and potential biomedical applications of VasFluidics, as well as its ability to stimulate imagination. By reconstructing vascular tissue using synthetic systems like VasFluidics, researchers can harness the extraordinary capabilities of nature’s transport systems. Professor Shum’s team is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of microfluidic techniques for precise liquid control and efficient sample analysis, with a focus on developing ultra-sensitive analysis of human body fluids for precision medicine against diseases.
The team’s long-term goal is to utilize microfluidics to benefit human health by developing biomimetic platforms with complex fluid manipulation capabilities. Professor Shum envisions that VasFluidics will pioneer new biomimetic platforms for in-vitro modeling of biological fluid mechanics, biomolecule synthesis, drug screening, and disease modeling in organ-on-chips. By continuing to explore the potential of microfluidics in biomedical applications, the team hopes to advance the field of fluidic systems and contribute to the development of innovative solutions for healthcare and research.
