Internet of Things Architecture for Cellular Biology

Abstract

New cell culture techniques have led to complex tissue models in biological experiments. For example, 3-D cerebral organoids provide a more realistic model of the human cortical tissue. However, these cell culture experiments are restricted by high costs and limited labor. A massively scalable and cost efficient platform for tissue experiments would benefit genomics, neuroscience, and translational medicine by enabling advanced high throughput tissue screens. Cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) provide new tools for managing multiple experiments in parallel that are remotely controlled through automation. We introduce a cloud-based IoT architecture that takes advantage of these tools to offer an environment where researchers can run thousands of cell culture experiments at once. This technology allows studies with cell cultures to be performed at scales far beyond a single lab setting, democratizing access to advanced tissue models and enabling new avenues of research.

Modular automated microfluidic cell culture platform reduces glycolytic stress in cerebral cortex organoids

“…The Amazon Web Services (AWS) Internet of Things (IoT) provides a convenient control framework for multiple devices to communicate information and initiate actions. With a communication protocol such as Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), systems can manage synchronized, coordinated efforts of control and data acquisition in real-time over the internet 28 . System-to-system communication occurs over a local area network (LAN) while researchers can make on-demand calls for data or actions remotely.…”

A feedback-driven IoT microfluidic, electrophysiology, and imaging platform for brain organoid studies

“…The cloud infrastructure, including S3, MQTT messaging, and cloud processing within the IoT system, has been previously described (28). Additionally, we added a database service and defined a consistent organizational structure for MQTT messages and topics across devices and cloud jobs.…”

The emergence of neurodiplomacy

“…At the same time, I am part of the Brainengineers, which is a multi-institutional interdisciplinary group of neuroscientists, computer scientists, and engineers working together to standardize and scale human brain organoid research. Through this collaboration, we all get exposed to a variety of topics: from 3D printing of microscopes (Ly et al, 2021) and Internet-of-Things enabled technologies for the lab (Parks et al, 2021) to the evolution of neuronal subtypes (Schmitz et al, 2022). I believe these kinds of interactions are key to developing the next generation of scientists with an interdisciplinary mindset.…”

“…This would truly allow for a revolution in science education, creating virtually unlimited opportunities for multinational collaborations. We are currently working on implementing such approaches (Baudin et al, 2021;Parks et al, 2021) and have completed our pilot studies.…”