Pump-less, recirculating organ-on-a-chip (rOoC) platform

Abstract

Current organ-on-a-chip (OoC) systems mimic important aspects of specific organ and tissue functions, however, many commercial and academic devices are either too simple for advanced assays or require a complicated support set-up including external driving systems such as pumps and tubing that hamper scalability and robustness. We have developed a novel, pump-less directional flow recirculating organ-on-a-chip (rOoC) platform that creates continuous or pulsed directional gravity-driven flow by a combination of a 3D-tilting system and an optimized microfluidic layout. The rOoC platform allows growing and connecting tissue or organ representations on-chip with the possibility of incorporating barrier functions, gradients, and circulating cells. Using the rOoC platform we demonstrate simple and reproducible endothelialisation, hepatic organoid integration, and the first steps of vascularization of 3D organ representations on-chip.