Aerosols
IIVS uses specialized exposure systems offered by Vitrocell® for aerosol generation and exposure. The Cloud 12 system nebulizes liquid solutions/suspensions of test materials into aerosol droplets that can be generated in several sizes. Following aerosol generation, the droplets gravity sediment onto the apical surface of ALI cultures contained in tissue culture inserts maintained at 37 °C in the exposure bays. The quartz crystal microbalance (QCM; contained in an exposure bay) accurately measures the deposited mass (ng/cm2) of material to provide a readout of exposure in real time. The exposure of tissues (RHuA or hPCLS) using aerosol droplets more closely reflects an actual human inhalation exposure. More information about this device can be found can be found at the Vitrocell® website.
VC1
For researchers requiring precise puff control or to generate aerosols for next generation tobacco product studies, IIVS uses Vitrocell® smoking machine VC 1. Aerosols generated from reference or electronic cigarettes can be delivered using precise puffing parameters with humidified air dilution. Multiple exposure modules (such as the 12/6 and 12/12 variants used at IIVS) can be maintained in a climate chamber at 37 °C. ALI tissues maintained in the exposure bays receive pure or diluted aerosols using a predefined puff number over time. Delivered constituents can be quantified to establish nicotine equivalence when using specified puff regimens. More information about this device can be found can be found at the Vitrocell® website.
