Tuesday  |  Salon 8  |  09:00 AM–09:40 AM

#16025, Keynote: Modeling the Spaces in Between: Fluid-solid interactions in Tissue Interstitium

The major constituent in the human body is water which flows in blood vessels and saturates all tissues. In my lab, we have been focused on the saturating fluid that fills the spaces in between all cells, also known as the interstitial space. Flows in these spaces can have a profound effect on disease & injury, gene expression, and drug delivery. Specific examples that I will cover include infusion-based drug delivery inside the brain that enhances drug delivery and abnormal interstitial flows in tumors that act as a barrier to drug delivery. We have developed magnetic resonance imaging-based computational models of interstitial flow in these tissues that capture flow fields and corresponding tracer delivery. Of increasing interest are coupled fluid-solid interactions in the interstitium that account for interstitial flows, tissue edema, and cell compaction with cell proliferation. For example, numerous in vitro experiments have shown that mechanical stresses affect glioma (brain tumor) cell phenotype, including its proclivity to infiltrate. These studies suggest that gliomas are sensitive to both structural stress and interstitial flow, and emphasize the need to characterize these properties. We are developing 3D computational models of brain tumors that account for underlying tissue structures, growth and flow conditions in vivo. These models show how relative softness of glioma and brain tissue results in new predictions of stress and porosity at the tumor rim. Brain tissues are especially soft and deformable with flows. Other interesting fluid-solid interactions include perivascular fluid spaces interacting with pulsating blood vessel walls during glymphatic waste clearance and gas-bubble and tissue interactions during cavitation following blasts. These interactions are challenging to measure at the size and times scales needed due to the enclosed nature of the brain. To undertake these studies, we have collaborated with a network of neuroscientists, neurosurgeons, physicists, and engineers to better understand these interesting transport and mechanics problems.

Malisa Sarntinoranont   University of Florida