Descripción del proyecto
Validación y aplicación comercial de la plataforma de órgano en un chip
La tecnología de órgano en un chip define un sistema biomimético de un órgano fisiológico construido sobre un chip microfluídico. Una combinación de biología celular, ingeniería, tecnología de biomateriales y el microentorno del chip simulan las interfaces de tejidos y las estimulaciones mecánicas del órgano. Esta tecnología puede predecir las respuestas a los fármacos y los efectos ambientales, pero se está quedando atrás debido a una falta de normalización en la fabricación de los chips, una falta de automatización, que limita el rendimiento, y una falta de apoyo en la integración de sensores. El proyecto de prueba de concepto open-TOP, financiado con fondos europeos, tiene por objetivo comercializar la aplicación de la plataforma órgano en un chip anteriormente desarrollada por la Universidad de Twente (Países Bajos) y diseñada para superar los obstáculos actuales.
Objetivo
Organ-on-Chips, and more general microphysiological systems, are believed to revolutionize the way we develop drugs or select personalized therapies. Recapitulating human response both from healthy and diseased individuals potentially even enables ‘clinical trials in-a-dish’. While research in this field is thriving and commercial start-ups have been founded, adoption from end users is staying behind due to a number of reasons: i) lack of standardization making chips not compatible with each other, ii) lack of automation which limits the throughput and user-friendliness of the systems and iii) lack of support for sensor integration. The Twente Organ-on-Chip Platform (TOP) is designed to overcome these hurdles and has been developed for internal use during the ERC project VESCEL. During interaction with other researchers and companies within the Organ-on-Chip field they expressed their interest in a more standardized, automated platform that also supports sensor integration. Since it would require a number of steps for them to be able to use the platform in their existing environment we here suggest the ‘open-TOP’ ERC Proof of Concept project where we aim to commercialize the application of the Twente Organ-on-Chip Platform (TOP) and facilitate end users to use TOP in real world contexts. To reach this objective we need to develop a robust interconnect, validate and identify difficulties in making a third party chip TOP-compatible, validate the use of TOP for a biological experiment and finally determine the commercialization strategy for TOP. We believe TOP can help more end users to adopt Organ-on-Chip as a technology in their lab because in contrast to current setups, the open technology of TOP supports chips from third parties are inter compatible, multiplexable and controlled automatically. If ‘open-TOP’ is granted, TOP will be the standardized Organ-on-Chip infrastructure allowing users to stop worrying about control systems and only focus on chips and biology.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringcontrol systems
- social sciencessociologyindustrial relationsautomation
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- engineering and technologyother engineering and technologiesmicrotechnologyorgan on a chip
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantInstitución de acogida
7522 NB Enschede
Países Bajos