Microfluidics-assisted blood-brain barrier device: a powerful tool to study perioperative neurocognitive disorder

Abstract

The dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier could contribute to the pathogenesis of the perioperative neurocognitive disorder. In a recent study published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, Yang and colleagues developed an innovative microfluidics-assisted blood-brain barrier device to investigate the effects of neuroimmune interactions on blood-brain barrier opening. The findings are important and timely to understanding the mechanistic insights of perioperative neurocognitive disorder.

Keywords: anaesthesia; blood-brain barrier; interleukin-1β; neurocognition; omega-3 fatty acids; surgery.