2 Body Parts on a Chip
Wenhui Xia and lhuang24
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Overview of this TED Talk
- At the TED Talk in Boston in December 2013. Ms. Hamilton shared her research on a revolutionary topic: the development of tiny, microfluidic models of human organs on a chip. This innovation emerged from the pressing need to address the immense cost and time involved in creating and testing new drugs for human use. Traditional methods often fail to meet the urgent demand for novel therapies, leaving patients untreated and diseases unmanaged. Enter “organs on chips,” a groundbreaking approach to keeping human cells functional outside the body. These chips replicate essential organ functions and offer a platform for conducting biological experiments and drug testing with unprecedented accuracy and speed. The mechanism behind these chips is ingenious: featuring three fluidic channels, a porous, flexible membrane serves as the substrate for human cells, while capillary cells line the underside. By subjecting the chip to mechanical forces that mimic natural physiological conditions, researchers can simulate the experience of cells within the body, with air flowing through the top channel and a nutrient-rich liquid circulating through the blood channel.
- The potential impact of this technology is immense. By studying the dynamic response of the body to drugs using organs on chips, we stand at the brink of a paradigm shift in pharmaceutical research and development. Beyond revolutionizing the pharmaceutical industry, this innovation holds promise for diverse sectors, including cosmetics. Furthermore, it offers the tantalizing prospect of transforming clinical trials, ushering in a new era of efficiency and effectiveness through cutting-edge technology.
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Technological Advancements
- Progress of this technology: Since the 2013 TED Talk where the concept of “organs on chips” was highlighted, there has been significant progress in this technology. Various organ models, including liver, lung, and kidney, have been developed, each tailored to mimic specific physiological responses and diseases. These advances have enhanced drug testing, reducing reliance on animal testing and improving predictions of human response to drugs and chemicals.
- Milestones: The article “Emulate, Inc. and AstraZeneca Form Strategic Agreement to Work Side-by-Side on Organs-on-Chips Technology to Improve Prediction of Human Safety and Efficacy of Drug Candidates” publish May 16, 2018, talked about AstraZeneca ,a pharmaceutical company, embed organ-on-chip technology within their drug development pipelines
- Barrier: The technology requires specific biomaterials and intricate microfluidic control systems to replicate human organ functions, which can be complex and costly to develop and maintain
- Commercial availability: Maybe in the future more companies will use this technology into the drug testing.
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Explanation of how the TED talk relates to polymeric biomaterials
- Advances in soft lithography-based microfabrication and microfluidics have made it possible to develop more sophisticated cell culture environments that recreate the complex 3D microarchitecture of living tissues and organs. The key process is the
transfer of topographical patterns from a microfabricated ‘master’ substrate into another deformable material to form an inverse mold, which requires building a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microdevice containing microfabricated structures that mimics the structural complexity of the endothelial. - For example: A human breathing lung-on-a-chip was fabricated from PDMS that reconstitutes the structural organization, mechanical activity, and physiological functionality of the alveolar-capillary interface of the living human lung. This was accomplished by bisecting a central microfluidic channel horizontally with a porous flexible PDMS membrane, coating it with ECM, and culturing human alveolar epithelial cells on one side and pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells on the other.
- Advances in soft lithography-based microfabrication and microfluidics have made it possible to develop more sophisticated cell culture environments that recreate the complex 3D microarchitecture of living tissues and organs. The key process is the
