Development of a Smoke Exposure System for Organ-on-Chip Applications
Vaping has become an increasingly popular alternative to traditional smoking in recent years. However, its long-term impacts on health are not yet fully understood. There is therefore a need for further research and testing platforms that can be used to accurately evaluate the health impacts of vaping. This project aimed to develop a smoke exposure system that can be used to test the health effects of vaping on lung cells cultured within an Organ-on-Chip device, with the goal of providing a platform that is capable of accurately and replicably exposing lung cells to vapour from vapes. Organ-on-Chip devices are an emerging technology that allow for the culture of cells in a microfluidic environment that is able to accurately mimic the physiological conditions of the human body, therefore reducing the need for animal testing, and providing various benefits when compared to traditional cell culture methods. It was therefore proposed that the smoke exposure system should be developed that is compatible with this technology in order to provide a more accurate and relevant testing platform for evaluating the health effects of vaping. A smoke exposure system was developed that is capable of exposing lung cells cultured within an Organ-on-Chip device. Throughout the design process various factors were considered, including the need for replicable exposures, and compatibility with Organ-on-Chip devices with regards to preventing contamination and limiting shear stress on the cultured cells. The Organ-on-Chip device was then developed to be compatible with the smoke exposure system, and was designed to be able to provide a suitable environment for culturing lung cells. Finally, the smoke exposure system and Organ-on-Chip device were tested individually and together in order to evaluate their performance. From this testing it was found that the smoke exposure system was able to provide replicable exposures of vapour without introducing external contaminants, and that the Organ-on-Chip device was able to successfully culture lung cells. Finally, there were challenges with regards to testing these two systems together. However, from the individual testing it was seen that each system was able to perform its intended function, and therefore was concluded that the smoke exposure system and Organ-on-Chip device were successfully developed and would be suitable for use in future testing of the health effects of vaping.
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