Abstract

Human “Body-on-a-Chip” Devices as Tool to Improve Drug Development

Michael Shuler, Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Engineering, Cornell University; President Hesperos, Inc.

Alternatives or supplements to the use of animals in preclinical drug development that better mimic human response should reduce costs and increase the number of FDA approved drugs at the end of clinical trials. We have constructed micro-physiological (or “Body-on-a-Chip”) devices constructed from a combination of human tissue engineered constructs, micro-fabricated devices and physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models. These human surrogates are constructed on a low cost, robust “pumpless” platform. In addition to measuring viability and metabolic responses, we can measure functional outputs such as electrical activity and force generation using integrated sensors (in collaboration with J. Hickman, University of Central Florida). We will focus our discussion on development of key organ modules and their integration with each other to form a model of the human body.