Chips for Biomaterials and Biomaterials for Chips: Recent Advances at the Interface between Microfabrication and Biomaterials Research

Abstract

In recent years, the use of microfabrication techniques has allowed biomaterials studies which were originally carried out at larger length scales to be miniaturized as so-called "on-chip" experiments. These miniaturized experiments have a range of advantages which have led to an increase in their popularity. A range of biomaterial shapes and compositions are synthesized or manufactured on chip. Moreover, chips are developed to investigate specific aspects of interactions between biomaterials and biological systems. Finally, biomaterials are used in microfabricated devices to replicate the physiological microenvironment in studies using so-called "organ-on-chip," "tissue-on-chip" or "disease-on-chip" models, which can reduce the use of animal models with their inherent high cost and ethical issues, and due to the possible use of human cells can increase the translation of research from lab to clinic. This review gives an overview of recent developments at the interface between microfabrication and biomaterials science, and indicates potential future directions that the field may take. In particular, a trend toward increased scale and automation is apparent, allowing both industrial production of micron-scale biomaterials and high-throughput screening of the interaction of diverse materials libraries with cells and bioengineered tissues and organs.

A dental implant-on-a-chip for 3D modeling of host–material–pathogen interactions and therapeutic testing platforms

“…Microfluidic physiological systems have garnered tremendous interest in recent years because of their usefulness in providing novel insights into normal human function and their potential to be informative for the discovery and development of therapeutic strategies. [32][33][34] Although animal models have been useful in improving our understanding of the physiology and pathogenesis of diseases, these models are generally expensive and time-consuming but poorly predict human physiology, particularly for drug development. 35 As such, there has been a constant and undeniable need for models that more accurately predict human responses.…”

Intestinal Stem Cell-on-Chip to Study Human Host-Microbiota Interaction

“…Polydimethylsiloxane so far widely used for organ-on-chip is known to non-specifically bind small hydrophobic molecules, which potentially causes bias in drug-absorption and metabolization studies ( 102 , 103 ). Advanced microfabrication processes using i.e., thermoplastic polymers with more inert properties, will foster the acceptance of gut-on-chip models for drug screening ( 104 ).…”

Revolutionizing drug development: harnessing the potential of organ-on-chip technology for disease modeling and drug discovery

“…In preparation, chips are composed of a mass quantity of materials to strengthen the structure and other materials for bio surface characteristics and functional alteration. Only a limited number of materials may be employed to make an organ on chip platform device due to the system complexity ( Ragelle et al, 2020 ; Boeri et al, 2021 ; Guttenplan et al, 2021 ; Lu and Radisic, 2021 ; Ratri et al, 2021 ; Kavand et al, 2022 ).…”