3D Microelectrode Integration in Muscle-on-Chip device

Abstract

The current drug development process is a costly effort both in terms of budget and time. Organ-on-Chip (OoC) technologies are rapidly developing and are used for various applications and studies that aim to reduce the costs of this process. They represent the convergence between tissue engineering and microfluidic technology to provide researchers with an in vitro tool that can better recreate the environmental conditions in which cells would normally develop in vivo. One of the applications of this tool is the implementation of such platforms to study heart and muscle tissue. Electrical stimulation of this tissue is of great importance for these studies. There exist different ways in which these cells can be electrically stimulated such as microelectrode arrays (MEAs) or external electrodes. These methods pose several challenges that need to be addressed.

The scope of this project is to implement 3D microelectrodes into an already existing device from the company Bi/ond to electrically stimulate the cells developing inside. This approach aims to solve the existing challenges in current methods for the electrical stimulation of tissue. This project succeeded in developing such 3D microelectrodes although the functionality of the device could not be proven. However, several approaches were also studied and propositions were made on how to continue with this project.