Browsing by Author "Sawhney, Amit"

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    Isolation of Single Muscle Fibers in Preparation for Loading into Microfluidic Devices
    (2012-04-18) Sawhney, Amit
    Modeling and simulation of microfluidic devices to capture single muscle fibers has led to several design possibilities. Before testing the fabricated devices, however, a procedure for the isolation of single muscle fibers from muscle tissue must be developed. The aim is to optimize a collagenase treatment that can yield consistent fibers of large quantity and dimensions that correspond to device tapering regions. Optimization of collagenase concentration and trituration showed that a 0.6% (w/v) solution produced the most fibers and the wide bore pipette tip method of trituration produced the longest fibers. Further analysis of centrifugation reinforced the theory of fiber separation and clean up based upon length. Future work includes testing of a larger sample size of muscle tissue/type, testing fiber functionality, preparing new methods of collagenase preparation and treatment, and seeing fiber response/analysis in the fabricated devices.
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    Modeling a MicrofluidicDevice to Capture Single Muscle Fibers for Analysis
    (2011-04-13) Sawhney, Amit
    Recently, a new technique was developed in Dr. Arriaga’slab to culture single muscle fibers. The cultured fibers are functional and have mitochondrial membrane potential for up to 48 hours, however the heterogeneous nature of the fibers prevent valid conclusions about ROS production and aging to be made. To be able to further analyze and provide treatment to the fibers, new technology must be developed. This study aims at creating a device based upon microfluidic theory to immobilize the fibers and thus provide a better way to analyze the fibers. In the end, we wish to fabricate a device that will test a high throughput of fibers and will allow safe treatment of drugs and quantitative measurements to be taken. To start this process, design and computer-aided simulation of the device were made.