Simulation and experimental research on micro-channel for detecting cell status in bio-artificial liver.

BACKGROUND Bioartificial liver support system (BALSS) based on culturing hepatocytes is an important research field for the treatment of acute liver failure. It is necessary to monitor the state of liver cell functions during the treatment of BALSS in order to guide clinical treatment. OBJECTIVE To design a micro-channel chip to achieve flash mixing for timely detection of liver cell status in bioreactors and improving liver cells growth environment to ensure the efficacy of the bio-artificial liver support system. METHODS Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and Urea are chosen as detection indicators to reflect the degree of liver cell injury and the detoxification function. A diamond tandem structure micro-channel is designed and optimized to achieve the efficient mixing of serum and ALT or Urea reagent. RESULTS The simulation and experimental results show that the diamond tandem structure micro-channel can significantly improve the mixing efficiency and meet the online detecting requirements. CONCLUSION The easily controllable diamond tandem structure micro-channel combines the advantages of active and passive mixer and can effectively mix the serum and ALT or Urea reagent. It lays the foundation for online monitoring of liver cells and will help to improve the viability of liver cell in the bioreactor.