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Gas Exposures

Harmful particulates, biological materials, gaseous exhaust, organic volatile compounds (VOCs), and other airborne substances can enter the body via the lungs through inhalation exposure.
 
Both artificially and naturally occurring airborne substances, including pollutants and VOCs, have been linked to rising incidences of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular, respiratory, and other systemic disorders. Deposition of these harmful substances along the inhalation pathway can trigger effects of varying severity, from local airway inflammation to significant structural damage. Moreover, once these compounds enter the bloodstream, they may cause widespread systemic effects, contributing to cardiovascular, neurological, or other chronic diseases.

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Reproducible exposure, precise delivery

The inExpose system has been specifically engineered for consistent and precise delivery of various pollutant concentrations, including noxious gases, diesel exhaust particles (DEP), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and particulate matter (PM), by regulating air flow rates. This is achieved through automated exposure profiles, which help reduce user error and minimize variability in outcomes across subjects, studies, and research groups. The inExpose is adaptable to a range of configurations and protocols, ensuring that subjects receive repeatable and consistent exposures to these air pollutants throughout the course of experimentation, thereby enhancing the reproducibility and accuracy of research results.

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Reliable and effective in vitro exposure

Aerosol exposure studies conducted at the air/liquid interface are more scientifically relevant and predictive of human biology than traditional in vitro studies conducted in submerged cultures. The expoCube enhances this relevance by enabling the exposure of in vitro cells to inhalable and gaseous compounds, simulating more realistic environmental conditions. The use of Transwells permeable supports allows cells to uptake and secrete molecules separately on both their basal and apical surfaces, thus facilitating metabolic activities in a more natural manner. By preventing the exposure of the culture medium (i.e., the blood side) to the gas phase, the expoCube closely replicates human lung physiology, creating a more natural and “lung-like” exposure profile compared to conventional cellular exposure systems.

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Conscious measurements, spontaneous breathing

The induced changes in lung parenchyma resulting from pollutants and air born irritants are likely to result in impaired breathing patterns, which can be captured repeatedly in conscious spontaneously breathing subjects using a whole body plethysmograph.

The whole body plethysmography chamber allows for the automated exposure to gas challenges, along with the continuous recording of the subjects ventilatory parameters. During acute exposures, IOX software can control the mixing and delivery of controlled gases with Mass Flow Controllers (MFC). The MFCs can be automated in protocols to vary severity and duration of challenges and returns to normoxia. These challenges can lead to erratic breathing and apneic events, which are recorded and quantified in real time.

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Detailed outcomes to isolate pollutant response

The flexiVent captures crucial changes in mechanical properties of the conducting airways, terminal airways and parenchyma in response to environmental pollutants. The flexiVent is a comprehensive tool allowing an integrated assessment of various disease determinants (e.g. extent and pattern of induced damage) on lung function decline.

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