Figure 5. Cell coverage and elongation in response to steady and pulsatile shear stress.

Mean flow of 16.3 mL/min (20 dynes/cm²) was applied to endothelial for 12 hours using the undamped, single-damped and double-damped systems. (A) Phase contrast images of the cells after each of the flow conditions: static, undamped, single-damped, and double damped. (B) Cell coverage is the percent area covered by the cells in the monolayer. The undamped system shows a significant loss in cell coverage during flow. (C) Cell elongation was defined as a major to minor axis greater than two. Bar = 200μm. (D) Mean flow of 16.3 mL/min (20 dynes/cm²) was applied to endothelial for 38 hours using the double-damped system. Bar = 50 μm. (E) Cell elongation was defined as the major to minor axis ratio. (F) Cell angle was relative to direction of flow and was calculated for wells with an elongation form factor > 2. (G) Cell elongation was defined as a major to minor axis greater than two. *Statistically different from all other groups (p < 0.05).