Easy-to-use Micro-fabricated Device for the Analysis of Mechanical and Chemical Properties of Complex Mechanically Controlled Tissue Constructs

Unmet need:  There is a need to bridge the gap between simplistic in-vitro studies and expensive, complex in-vivo studies to obtain meaningful pre-clinical data from a representative cellular environment and. One promising method is to use 3D cell cultures, or organ-chips, that reconstitute various functionalities of human organs in a microenvironment. These platforms allow extensive control on the cellular microenvironment while recapitulating important physiologic conditions. These platforms can be used to study mechanisms and new treatments for diseases such as asthma and brain cancer. The device platform combines long term cell culture tissue modeling with biological, microrheological, or mechanical studies.

Technical Details: The innovation is a multi-layer silicone elastomer device chip platform that mimics important aspects of human tissues or organs, whereby two or more cell types can interact through porous membranes that can be inflexible or flexible. The device allows long-term cell growth using standard culturing techniques, and can be readily adopted for various biomedical research purposes. It is user friendly and does not require technical expertise in microfluidics. The platform further allows application of a controlled pressure on cells to induce compressive or tensile stress on the cells. JHU inventors successfully applied the technology to analyze conditions related to human airways. The device can potentially speed development of disease therapeutics. JHU inventors have developed a manufacturing technique that makes it easier and cheaper to construct these multi-layer silicone elastomer devices in comparison to other 3D cell culture, or organ-chips devices.  

Publications  Lab Chip. 2016 Oct 18;16(21):4152-4162.
 

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