MICRO SHEAR STRESS SENSORS: FROM IN VITRO TO IN VIVO ASSESSMENT OF INFLAMMATORY RESPONSES

To date, developing a translatable strategy to detect secondary flow in the athero-prone regions in vivo remains a challenge. To address this need, we have developed the MEMS thermal sensors to assess intravascular voltage (IVV) changes in the New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits on high fat/cholesterol diet. The MEMS thermal sensors were capable of sensing secondary flow as recorded by the significantly elevated time-averaged voltage values (V_ave) and the time-varying component (δV/δt) in the lesion-prone regions. These voltage profiles were distinct between the control and treated groups, corresponding to the histopathological findings for atheromas and foam cell infiltration. In this chapter, the heat transfer strategy will be introduced as a potential entry point to assess inflammatory responses, to demonstrate spatial and temporal variations in shear stress under a low Reynolds number flow in an arterial bifurcation model, and to detect sense secondary flow developed in the atheroprone regions of fat-fed NZW rabbits.