When medicine and technology meet, the possibilities seem endless! After creating a vagina on a chip to better study certain vaginal infections and find treatments, now it’s our blood vessels’ turn to be transferred to a microchip. Behind this new technological advance is a team of researchers from The University of Sydney who have published two articles on the subject. The researchers hope that the results of these two studies will allow the microchip developed in the biomedical field to be used to model human organs and diseases.
Transparent Blood Vessel on a Chip Credit: The University of Sydney
A transparent microchip that mimics vascular lesions
Table of Contents
This transparent microchip mimics the vascular lesions caused by high blood flow and inflammation, an early stage in the development of heart disease. This device provides a more precise understanding of how blockages occur at specific locations in the blood vessels. “It’s an incredible breakthrough because we took advantage of the fact that these microchips are made of a transparent material and mimicked the conditions of the coronary artery, which supplies blood to the heart muscle, and photographed them with a microscope to map areas of cell damage that corresponded to the sites of blockages in patients with heart disease,” explains Associate Professor Anna Waterhouse, from the Charles Perkins Centre and Nano Institute at the University of Sydney.
More precise than animal models
The other advantage of this microchip is that it can significantly reduce the number of animal experiments. “If we use an animal model, we won’t be able to see the changes at this level of detail in a living organism because we can’t see through the blood vessels,” explains the expert.
How does this technology work?
This blood vessel on a chip mimics the structure and function of human blood vessels because of the tiny etched channels in which human cells are placed to develop. This technique allows researchers and doctors to conduct tests quickly and with very little liquid. It is more reliable, simpler to handle, and more economical for the laboratory. “Innovations like this in organs-on-a-chip technology are crucial to benefiting potentially millions of people around the world, offering faster and more cost-effective drug development without the need for animal testing,” says Professor Waterhouse.
What next?
The team is now working on integrating new types of vascular cells to mimic human blood vessels even better and adding fats to simulate the accumulation of cholesterol. “We want to take our research further, testing devices that simulate complex interactions in human organs so that we can reproduce more advanced stages of cardiovascular diseases, such as serious heart disease or advanced cancer,” concludes the expert.
Final Thoughts
This breakthrough in microchip technology represents a significant step forward for medical research. By mimicking human blood vessels, it enables more accurate disease modeling and reduces the need for animal testing. This innovation marks a promising direction for future biomedical advancements.
References
Singh, J., Gambhir, T., Goh, T., van Vuuren, I., Gao, L., Wise, S. G., & Waterhouse, A. (2024). Spatiotemporally mapped endothelial dysfunction at bifurcations in a coronary artery-on-a-chip. Advanced Materials Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202301596
Ashok, D., Singh, J., Jiang, S., Waterhouse, A., & Bilek, M. (2024). Reagent-free covalent immobilization of biomolecules in a microfluidic organ-on-a-chip. Advanced Functional Materials. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202313664
FEEDBACK:
