Chapter 11 - Body-on-a-chip systems: Design, fabrication, and applications

Abstract

Developing drugs is an expensive, yet inefficient endeavor. It relies on cell cultures and animal models to predict whether a new compound will cure a patient's condition, but the interactions between a drug and human cell cultures or animal models often differs from the path a drug takes in a human body. That deviation can lead to higher drug toxicity and lower efficacy than expected. Body-on-a-chip systems can predict human metabolic pathways, and therefore may help with uncovering unanticipated effects of new drugs. Here we will discuss what researchers need to know to build body-on-a-chip devices. We will provide equations for designing body chips, introduce fabrication techniques needed to build such systems, and explain how to experiment with them. We will also review the research that has been done to suggest that body-chips can predict drug action in the human body. Future directions for body-on-a-chip systems include in vitro-to-in vivo extrapolation, and a brief section about commercialization of this technology.