Human arteries are anything but straight tubes. They twist, branch, narrow, and balloon, creating intricate pathways that dictate how blood flows. Traditional lab models have reduced these vessels to uniform pipes, a simplification that misses the nuanced environments where many vascular disorders arise.
To capture that complexity, a team in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University has engineered a fully customizable vessel‑chip. This micro‑fluidic platform reproduces the diverse geometries of real blood vessels, giving scientists a more authentic arena for disease modeling and drug screening.
Vessel‑chips are tiny, transparent devices that simulate human vasculature at the microscale. Because their geometry can be tuned for each experiment, they serve as a non‑animal alternative for probing blood‑flow dynamics and evaluating therapeutic candidates. Graduate researcher Jennifer Lee, working under Dr. Abhishek Jain, designed a chip that can recreate everything from branching networks to aneurysmal expansions and stenotic constrictions.
“Branches, bulges, and narrowings each reshape the flow profile and alter the shear stress on the vessel wall,” Lee explained. “Our goal was to capture those variations in a single, adaptable platform.”
Moving Past Straight‑Tube Designs
Lee’s work builds on earlier efforts from the same lab, where Dr. Tanmay Mathur introduced a straight‑channel vessel‑chip. The new system expands that foundation, allowing researchers to embed living cells within realistic vessel shapes. The findings were featured in Lab on a Chip and will appear on the cover of the journal’s May 2025 issue.
“Now we can explore vascular disease in ways that were previously impossible,” Jain noted. “We can populate these structures with actual tissue, watch how they behave, and learn why certain sites are prone to pathology.”
From Classroom to Published Science
Lee entered Jain’s lab as an undergraduate seeking hands‑on experience. Unfamiliar with organs‑on‑a‑chip technology at first, she quickly recognized its potential to reshape biomedical research. The enthusiasm led her to continue through a fast‑track Master’s program, where she could pursue high‑risk, high‑impact projects all the way to publication.
“Jennifer showed curiosity, persistence, and creative problem‑solving,” Jain praised. “Our program empowers students to take a project from the bench to a peer‑reviewed journal.”
Adding More Layers of Biological Reality
While the current chip incorporates endothelial cells—the inner lining of blood vessels—the team plans to introduce additional cell types in future versions. Adding smooth‑muscle cells, fibroblasts, or immune cells would enable researchers to study tissue‑tissue interactions and how they influence flow‑driven forces.
“We’re heading toward a ‘four‑dimensional’ organ‑on‑a‑chip,” Jain said. “It’s not just cells and fluid; it’s the interplay of cells, flow, and complex architecture—all at once.”
Beyond the Bench: Skills for the Future
Lee highlighted how the collaborative lab atmosphere sharpened her communication, teamwork, and problem‑solving abilities—skills that extend far beyond the laboratory.
“Working side‑by‑side with graduate students and postdocs taught me how to exchange ideas effectively and tackle challenges together,” she reflected.
This research was supported by the U.S. Army Medical Research Program, NASA, BARDA, NIH, FDA, NSF, and Texas A&M’s Office of Innovation Translational Investment Funds.