Mass-preserving approximation of a chemotaxis multi-domain transmission model for microfluidic chips

TL;DR

This paper develops a mass-preserving numerical simulation tool for chemotaxis models in microfluidic chips, accurately capturing cell interactions and movement in complex multi-domain environments for drug testing applications.

Contribution

It introduces novel mass-preserving and positivity-preserving numerical methods for coupled reaction-diffusion-transport equations in multi-domain microfluidic models.

Findings

Successfully reproduces chemotactic movement of cells in simulations

Ensures mass conservation across interfaces and boundaries

Provides a reliable tool for drug testing in microfluidic environments

Abstract

The present work was inspired by the recent developments in laboratory experiments made on chip, where culturing of multiple cell species was possible. The model is based on coupled reaction-diffusion-transport equations with chemotaxis, and takes into account the interactions among cell populations and the possibility of drug administration for drug testing effects. Our effort was devoted to the development of a simulation tool that is able to reproduce the chemotactic movement and the interactions between different cell species (immune and cancer cells) living in microfluidic chip environment. The main issues faced in this work are the introduction of mass-preserving and positivity-preserving conditions involving the balancing of incoming and outgoing fluxes passing through interfaces between 2D and 1D domains of the chip and the development of mass-preserving and positivity preserving numerical conditions at the external boundaries and at the interfaces between 2D and 1D domains.