The seeding of cells into an organ is an important step in cell therapy because the final functional properties of the organ are related to the initial cell distribution throughout the organ. However, vessel occlusion is a serious problem that prevents uniform distribution of the cells in the entire organ. Understanding the mechanism of vessel occlusion can help optimize the seeding process. In this study, the vessel occlusion phenomenon under perfusion conditions during cell seeding was investigated. First, we applied a microfluidic system that enabled the observation of the occlusion events during injection. Second, we applied a multiphase numerical model that can describe the cell–cell interactions and cell–fluid interactions to investigate the vessel occlusion phenomenon during the seeding process. In particular, the effects of cell concentration and flow rate were investigated. The results indicate the importance of cell–cell interactions and cell–vessel interactions for the occurrence of vessel occlusion. In addition, it is found that the probability of occurrence of vessel occlusion increases with the increase in cell concentration and decrease in flow rate. The simulation model can help determine the optimum parameters to enhance cell seeding efficiency.

将细胞接种到器官中是细胞治疗的重要步骤，因为器官的最终功能特性与整个器官的初始细胞分布有关。然而，血管闭塞是一个严重的问题，它阻碍了细胞在整个器官中的均匀分布。了解血管闭塞的机制有助于优化播种过程。在本研究中，研究了细胞接种过程中灌注条件下的血管闭塞现象。首先，我们应用了一个微流体系统，可以在注射过程中观察闭塞事件。其次，我们应用了一个可以描述细胞-细胞相互作用和细胞-流体相互作用的多相数值模型来研究播种过程中的血管闭塞现象。特别是，研究了细胞浓度和流速的影响。结果表明细胞 - 细胞相互作用和细胞 - 血管相互作用对血管闭塞发生的重要性。此外，发现血管闭塞的发生概率随着细胞浓度的增加和流速的降低而增加。仿真模型可以帮助确定提高细胞接种效率的最佳参数。