A guide to the organ-on-a-chip

TLDR

Organs‑on‑chips are microfluidic devices that grow engineered or natural miniature tissues to mimic human physiology by controlling cell microenvironments, and their rapid expansion across many applications makes selecting the appropriate platform challenging. This primer offers practical guidance and tips for developing application‑specific organ‑on‑chip systems, outlining the key aspects to consider during design and implementation. It details guiding principles for designing, fabricating, and operating OoCs, describes assay techniques for extracting biological information, and reviews current and future applications to inform design decisions. Leung, de Haan et al.

Abstract

Organs-on-chips (OoCs) are systems containing engineered or natural miniature tissues grown inside microfluidic chips. To better mimic human physiology, the chips are designed to control cell microenvironments and maintain tissue-specific functions. Combining advances in tissue engineering and microfabrication, OoCs have gained interest as a next-generation experimental platform to investigate human pathophysiology and the effect of therapeutics in the body. There are as many examples of OoCs as there are applications, making it difficult for new researchers to understand what makes one OoC more suited to an application than another. This Primer is intended to give an introduction to the aspects of OoC that need to be considered when developing an application-specific OoC. The Primer covers guiding principles and considerations to design, fabricate and operate an OoC, as well as subsequent assaying techniques to extract biological information from OoC devices. Alongside this is a discussion of current and future applications of OoC technology, to inform design and operational decisions during the implementation of OoC systems. Organs-on-chips are microfluidic systems containing miniature tissues with the aim of mimicking human physiology for a range of biomedical and therapeutic applications. Leung, de Haan et al. report practical tips to inform design and operational decisions during the implementation of organ-on-a-chip systems.