Prototyping of Microphysiologic Cell Culture Systems That Mimic Key Aspects of the Human Body

Thursday, 30 November 2023 at 11:30

Add to Calendar ▼2023-11-30 11:30:002023-11-30 12:30:00Europe/LondonPrototyping of Microphysiologic Cell Culture Systems That Mimic Key Aspects of the Human BodyLab-on-a-Chip and Microfluidics World Congress 2023 in Laguna Hills, CaliforniaLaguna Hills, CaliforniaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Single and multi-organ microphysiologic systems (MPS) can be used to detect secondary drug toxicities stemming from drug metabolites. Here we describe how to design and prototype such systems to replicate key aspects of the human body that influence the concentration of drug metabolites within the system. Using 3D printing we have prototyped and tested several microfluidic MPS that can recirculate near-physiological amounts of cell culture medium. For example, the body cube represents a part of the human body that is scaled down by a factor of 73000. It can recirculate 80 µL of medium (the equivalent of 5L to 6L of blood scaled down by a factor of 73000). We have also developed several devices that recirculate small amounts of cell culture medium in a way that makes it feasible to culture mechanosensitive cells such as HUVEC or GI tract epithelial cells within the system. The talk given here is a summary of our efforts in this area.

Mandy Esch, Project Leader, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Mandy Esch

Mandy B. Esch is a project leader in the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She received a Diploma (equivalent to the American M.S. degree) in Biology and a Dr. rer. nat. (equivalent to the American Ph.D. degree) in Biotechnology from the Julius Maximilians University in Würzburg, Germany. During her PhD research she developed paper-based microfluidics and microfluidic biosensors for the detection of pathogens. In 2001, Dr. Esch joined the Cornell Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility as life sciences liaison. In 2007, she joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. While there, she developed patents for cell culture on a porous 3D surface and for a multi-organ microphysiological system (MPS). She was part of the team that in 2015 received the Lush Science Prize for designing multi-organ fluidic cell culture systems. From 2015 to 2016 Dr. Esch spent a year as Assistant Professor at Syracuse University (Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering), where she taught nanobiotechnology. In August 2016 Dr. Esch moved to NIST, where she is focusing on integrating sensors with tissues-on-chips and multi-organ microphysiological systems.