Microfluidic Organ‐on‐a‐Chip Technology for Advancement of Drug Development and Toxicology

Abstract

In recent years, the exploitation of phenomena surrounding microfluidics has seen an increase in popularity, as researchers have found a way to use their unique properties to create superior design alternatives. One such application is representing the properties and functions of different organs on a microscale chip for the purpose of drug testing or tissue engineering. With the introduction of "organ-on-a-chip" systems, researchers have proposed various methods on various organ-on-a-chip systems to mimic their in vivo counterparts. In this article, a systematic approach is taken to review current technologies pertaining to organ-on-a-chip systems. Design processes with attention to the particular instruments, cells, and materials used are presented.

3D Miniaturization of Human Organs for Drug Discovery

“…There are the two general strategies in generating organ models: bottom-up and top-down approaches. [27,29,[31][32][33][34] In a top-down approach, the strategy employed is to engineer individual components of a tissue environment that, together, mimic and recreate aspects of the system. For example, cellular components can be integrated by co-culturing multiple cell types in defined physical arrangements, 3D organization can be mimicked with biomaterial scaffolds and microfluidic channels, mechanical cues can be presented by biomaterials and fluid flow, and soluble stimuli can be delivered via perfusion.…”

“…Indeed, engineered 3D cultures have already been used to model how humans to metabolize drugs through the interactions among multiple organs. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] In this review, we provide a perspective on the three-major emerging 3D culturing technologies: 3D organoids, 3D microfabrication, and 3D bioprinting. As those technologies enable the modeling of the crucial features of human 3D organs essential to advance drug discovery, this review is based on the www.advancedsciencenews.com www.advhealthmat.de technologies used rather than on the organ mimicked.…”

Development of a Multichannel Dialysis Microchip for Bioassay of Drug Efficacy and Retention

“…Organon-a-chip or body-on-a-chip systems are, however, in the proofof-concept stage, and many issues regarding their practical use remain to be improved. 11 Although many studies on micromodels of drug absorption or metabolic processes have been reported to date, 12-14 few organ-on-a-chip studies on drug excretion processes have been conducted. While many kidney-on-a-chip studies have been reported, most of them focused on the nephrotoxicity rather than renal excretion.…”

Cryogenic 3D printing for tissue engineering

“…Recently, additional applications of tissue engineering have emerged, as replacement for animal use in research, in the form of micro-organs or organs on a chip [3]. A key element in tissue engineering is the manufacture of a tissue scaffold, an extracellular matrix [7].…”