Abstract

Origami Microfluidics for Biomimetic Liver on a Chip

Carol Livermore, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University

Fluid mechanics at the shortest length scales enable many functions of life, including the human body’s microcirculation. Ideally, we would be able to translate the body’s fluid mechanics directly into engineered tissues and organ on a chip systems, but conventional microfluidics still lag behind much of what our bodies can do. A good example is the liver; conventional organs on a chip can struggle to replicate the liver’s massively parallel flow and perfusion architecture. Origami-based microfluidics offer a new paradigm for addressing these challenges. Folding offers a low-cost, rapid means of creating flow structures that mimic vasculature. Multi-material architectures enable additional transport via diffusion, and directed assembly of cells can offer hierarchical structure at the smallest length scales. This talk will present the enabling tools of origami tissue engineering, including the use of folding to create multi-material, flow/perfusion microfluidic devices as a platform for scalable tissue engineering. In particular, the presentation will focus on the design, fabrication, and characterization of liver tissue units made via this multi-functional, multi-material approach.