Session: 16-02-01: Poster Session: NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), NSF Posters

Paper Number: 99983

99983 - Utilization of Computational Fluid Dynamic Models to Quantify the Heat Generated Within Tissue From Electro-Osmotic Flow 

In the absence of extensive vascularization, the transfer of essential fluid and nutrients within human tissue is severely limited to diffusion across pores and weak interstitial flow. However, electroosmosis, which is the flow of fluid driven by an electrical field, has become a promising option in the realm of tissue engineering and regeneration research. Clinicians and scientists have recently began applying an electric field to human tissues to promote stronger interstitial flow via electroosmosis in clinical settings, including but not limited to diabetic wound healing.  However, optimization of this process, including determining the polarity and pulse cycle and durations of the electrical stimulation, has proven to be a significant challenge due to the generation of heat that accompanies the application of the electrical field. This research seeks to better understand and quantify the range of voltage where the heat generated by the electric field leads to cell degradation and death to optimize the process of using electroosmotic treatments. Cells survive and proliferate within a small range of temperatures and heating the cells beyond that range will cause them to degrade and eventually die. Accepted literature has found that cells begin to degrade after a specific amount of time based on the temperature; for example, cells will begin to degrade after five seconds when heated to 60 degrees Celsius. When a voltage is applied, heat is generated from the electric field, yielding an increase in the temperature of the nearby cells. At lower voltages, this heat easily dissipates at the surface without affecting a large number of cells; however, at higher voltages, the overall tissue heats up, and significant cell death begins to occur. Utilizing a computational fluid dynamics software, Sim Center Star-CCM+, a commercially available Multiphysics solver, a representative model of tissue mimicking a clinical application of electricity to the knee has been created. This model will be used to test different voltages while monitoring the temperature and time; then, these temperatures will be compared to the prior-established values depicting when cells undergo irreversible damage. Analysis will show what voltages clinicians can safely apply for variable amounts of time or whether a pulse-like method of application would be more appropriate. The implications of this research directly affect wound regeneration and tissue engineering and vascularization. By understanding exactly how much heat is generated by different levels of voltage, this research would allow doctors and scientists to know more precisely how much voltage they can apply before risking damage to the tissue.

Presenting Author: Jordan Grothe South Dakota State University

Presenting Author Biography: Jordan Grothe is currently a junior at the University of South Dakota studying computer science and mathematics. She spent her summer participating in an REU studying computational fluid dynamics at South Dakota State University.

Authors:

Jordan Grothe South Dakota State University
Ashley Jorgensen South Dakota State University
Mark Messerli South Dakota State University
Stephen Gent South Dakota State University