A Model to Study Microscale Bone Flows in Microgravity

As the Artemis program is aimed at sustained human presence in space, astronauts will spend increasing time in microgravity, known to cause bone loss, or osteoporosis. Extending low gravity stays demands understanding fluid behavior at microscales in relation to biological systems such as fluid flow channels to represent shear stresses that affect cellular growth. Studying these microscale mechanisms in low gravity yields insight required for biological systems to thrive, which is critical for success in space exploration.

Microfluidic devices were designed to represent fluid channels in bones. The effort used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and ground experiments using oleic acid, glass beads, and pulsatile flow to simulate bone marrow. In Summer 2022, microgravity testing is anticipated on Blue Origin’s New Shepard to provide experimental data and validate the CFD models. The experiment uses imec’s lens free imaging system; a compact and wide field-of-view microscope suitable for recording fluids and biology processes. This work provides insight into microscale biological flow systems, evaluates a new microscope in microgravity, and validates related CFD predictions. This work is funded by NASA under award #80NSSC21K0338 and the Florida High Tech Corridor.