Artery

HemoShear’s first human-surrogate model replicates the anatomical structure of the human blood vessel wall and blood-flow patterns. Shear forces in the vessel wall caused by blood flow are essential to recalibrating cells to their in vivo (living) state in the laboratory. The HemoShear device applies regional shear stress forces, derived from human MRI, to re-create the biological behavior of both healthy and disease-prone regions of the human vasculature (circulatory system). HemoShear’s technology exposes vascular cells to hemodynamic forces, and then introduces risk factors and candidate drug compounds to the cell culture. Assays are then performed on gene responses, protein secretion, permeability, and other biological functions so that HemoShear and its customer can understand the mechanism by which the drug acts and determine its effects on the blood vessel.

With no modifications to the current device, HemoShear can investigate both drug efficacy and toxicity in states that mimic atherosclerosis (i.e., heart disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease), diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and other human disease states that feature altered blood chemistry. The device can also be used to test multiple drug-to-drug interactions in the blood circulation. Several areas for potential study with customers are shown below: