Organ-on-a-Chip Technology: monitoring dynamic cell responses under controlled physiological conditions

Microfluidics is vital for cell analysis because it is the only technology capable of simulating the physiological environment of cells and cell assemblies to investigate cellular transport mechanisms and cell proliferation events in the presence of test reagents, temperature or shear force gradients. In light of the benefits of microfluidics, my research group at TUW is developing lab-on-a-chip systems containing integrated fluid handling, degassing and biosensing systems to non-invasively monitor dynamic cell population responses. In course of the presentation various components including microvalves, micropumps, degassers and sensing systems for lab-on-a-chip will be presented as well as the application of three selected organ-on-a-chip technologies in placenta research, rheumatic arthritis and osteoarthritis studies as well as Parkinson’s diseases progression.