Lung-on-a-chip
Design and Manufacture of a Resealable Device for Recreating the Alveolar-Capillary Barrier In Vitro
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Abstract
In vitro models are used for studying the physiological function of an organ, disease modelling and drug testing. Over the last decade, since their first commercial introduction, organ-on-a-chip (OOC) technology has proved to be able to recreate aspects of organ function that conventional in vitro models, such as cell culture wells and cell culture inserts, fail to recreate accurately. OOC devices provide a 3D environment for co-culture of cells, that closely mimics the in vivo environment. They provide mechanical cues that are essential for accurately recreating the behaviour of cells. In this report, a new design for a lung-on-a-chip (LOC) device, along with the manufacturing techniques used to make the device, is presented. The device is designed to cyclically stretch the cultured lung epithelial cells to recreate breathing strains, and allows for flow of culture media to recreate shear stress on endothelial cells due to blood flow in the capillaries. The design process involved coming up with an initial dimensional design with the help of COMSOL models of the device. The dimensions were further tweaked on the basis of test results for membrane stain. In comparison to the state-of-the-art LOC devices, which either fail to recreate the strain type or fail to incorporate media flow in a way that recreates blood flow accurately, the device strikes a balance between providing the cyclic strain and providing shear stress. The design focuses on making the device convenient for the end user to set up and use. It allows for direct seeding of the cells in the chip and live imaging of the cells during the experiments.
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