TOMAC: Bioinspired Flow Generation in Tubeless Organ-on-a-chip using Magnetic Artificial Cilia

Introduction

Currently, 90% of the drugs fail to pass clinical trials. One of the key reasons is that the animal models used in the preclinical phase poorly predict the human response to the drugs. Organ-on-a-Chip (OoC) is a game-changing technology as one of the alternative methodologies to animal models.

Organ-on-a-Chip Technology

The heart of an OoC system is an ‘Organ-chip’: cm-sized devices with micro-channels and chambers in which human cells can be grown to closely mimic human tissues. More and more evidence shows that OoCs are more representative models than animals.

Industry Adoption Challenges

However, the industry adoption of OoCs is still very limited. OoC users and developers simply have to choose between:

1. OoCs with physiologically relevant flow but not fit for standard operating procedures in the pharmaceutical industry.
2. OoCs that are compatible but less physiological because of the absence or inadequacy of the flow.

TOMAC Project Solution

The TOMAC project offers a novel solution called “Magnetic Artificial Cilia (MAC) pump”: a chip-sized modular and tubeless flow system that, on one hand, eliminates manual handling and enables automation, and on the other hand provides physiological flow for a range of organ models.

Technology Behind MAC

The technology behind MAC is based on micrometer-sized magnetic hair-like structures called Magnetic Artificial Cilia (MAC), which are inspired by cilia occurring in nature. The MAC are flexible micro-actuators that respond to a varying magnetic field (created by the actuation system) by rotating or oscillating, and thus create a controlled fluid flow.