Microfluidic device comprising at least one cell culture unit for forming, culturing, growing and/or maintaining a 3D tissue structure such as a 3D strip of cardiac tissue, wherein the at least one cell culture unit comprises: a respective culture chamber for culturing cells having a chamber outlet opening; and a cell supply channel arranged to guide a microfluidic flow of liquid holding cells between a channel inlet and a channel outlet, wherein the cell supply channel is provided with a flow inhibitor which is operable to selectively provide a flow inhibiting state or a flow permitting state depending on a fluid pressure at the flow inhibitor, wherein, in the flow inhibiting state, the flow inhibitor is configured to substantially inhibit liquid flow between the cell supply channel and the culture chamber, wherein, in the flow permitting state, the flow inhibitor is configured to permit such liquid flow such that the cell supply channel is in liquid communication with the culture chamber to supply the culture chamber with cells, wherein the culture chamber is provided with at least two mutually spaced apart elastic support structures which extend in the culture chamber and which are configured for elastically supporting a tissue formed in the culture chamber, in particular a cultured 3D tissue formed from the cells, wherein the elastic support structures are elastically deformable, in particular flexible, in particular to vary a mutual distance of said support structures under influence of a varying contraction force between said support structures.

An example method for measuring deformability of a cell, consistent with the present disclosure, includes detecting a single cell of a biologic sample in a cell probing chamber of a microfluidic device. The method includes isolating the cell in the cell probing chamber of the microfluidic device by terminating the flow of the biologic sample through the microfluidic device. The method further includes causing deformation of the cell by introducing ultrasonic waves into the cell probing chamber, and measuring deformability of the cell responsive to the introduction of the ultrasonic waves.

The present invention relates to a microfluidic device (1), preferably for producing a three-dimensional cell culture, having at least one chamber (2), and a fluid channel (3) which flows through at least part of the chamber (2) in order to provide a fluid stream which flows through the chamber (2) preferably continuously, wherein the chamber (2) is connected to a loading opening (4) and via the loading opening (4) can be loaded with hydrogel up to a desired fill level, characterized in that the chamber (2) comprises a main chamber (5) and a secondary chamber (6) connected to the main chamber (5), wherein, when the chamber (2) is being loaded with hydrogel up to the desired fill level, the secondary chamber is at least partially filled with hydrogel backed up from the main chamber (5).

A method of manufacturing a microstructure comprises printing a positive mold structure, filling the positive mold structure with a second material to form an elastically deformable negative mold structure, filling the negative mold structure with a third material to form the microstructure, and releasing the microstructure from the negative mold structure. Advantageously, the negative mold structure can be stretched to facilitate the release of the microstructure. For example, the microstructure comprises a chamber with capped micropillars for the generation and/or analysis of muscle tissue.

In biosciences and related fields, it can be useful to study cells in isolation so that cells having unique and desirable properties can be identified within a heterogenous mixture of cells. Processes and methods disclosed herein provide for encapsulating cells within a microfluidic device and assaying the encapsulated cells. Encapsulation can, among other benefits, facilitate analyses of cells that generate secretions of interest which would otherwise rapidly diffuse away or mix with the secretions of other cells.

Provided herein are methods for culturing patient-derived tumor cell spheroids in a three-dimensional microfluidic device. The method comprises mincing primary tumor sample in a medium supplemented with serum; treating the minced primary tumor sample with a composition comprising an enzyme; collecting tumor spheroids having a diameter of 10 μm to 500 μm from the enzyme treated sample; suspending the tumor spheroids in biocompatible gel; and culturing the tumor spheroids in a three dimensional microfluidic device. Methods for identifying an agent for treating cancer and microfluidic devices that allow for the simultaneous exposure of the cultured patient-derived primary tumor cell spheroids to a treatment of choice and to control treatment are also provided.

A Cell Migration Assay Plates (CMAP) assembly for high throughput microfluidic migration assays and method of manufacturing thereof are provided. The CMAP assembly includes a top plate having a plurality of wells aligned with a trough component having a plurality of troughs. Each of the wells is defined at least in part by first and second reservoirs and a divisional wall extending between the reservoirs. The trough component is secured to the top plate to form a plurality of micro-channels, such that each one of the micro-channels is defined by a portion of one of the divisional walls and a portion of a corresponding one of the plurality of troughs. The micro-channels enable communication between the reservoirs and visualization of cells migrating through the micro-channels. In this manner, migration of cells through the micro-channels can be visualized for testing and screening applications. A sealing component includes a trough gasket which is operable to be positioned against the bottom end of the well such that the sealing component is sandwiched between the divisional wall and the trough component. The trough gasket is operable to retain the plurality of cells within the troughs such that the plurality of cells migrating towards the second reservoir are isolated within the corresponding trough. At least a portion of the trough component is reconfigurable in relation to the trough gasket and the top plate such that the troughs are exposed to permit a user to retrieve one or more of the cells from the troughs.

Disclosed herein is a microfluidic device comprising, at least one sample inlet for receiving biological cells in a biological fluid sample; at least one sheath flow inlet for receiving a sheath fluid; at least one curvilinear channel configured to provide the biological fluid sample substantially in an outer flow and the sheath fluid in substantially an inner separated flow; a plurality of cell traps at the periphery of the curvilinear channel, each trap configured to admit a single cell having a targeted size range from the outer flow.

Embodiments described herein generally provide for the expansion of cells in a cell expansion system using an active promotion of a coating agent(s) to a cell growth surface. A coating agent may be applied to a surface, such as the cell growth surface of a hollow fiber, by controlling the movement of a fluid in which a coating agent is suspended. Using ultrafiltration, the fluid may be pushed through the pores of a hollow fiber from a first side, e.g., an intracapillary (IC) side, of the hollow fiber to a second side, e.g., an extracapillary (EC) side, while the coating agent is actively promoted to the surface of the hollow fiber. In so doing, the coating agent may be hydrostatically deposited onto a wall, e.g., inner wall, of the hollow fiber.

A microfluidic-based device and system is disclosed for the high-throughput intracellular delivery of biomolecular cargo to cells (eukaryotic or prokaryotic) or enveloped viruses. Cargo integration occurs due to transient membrane permeabilization by exposure to bulk acoustic waves (BAWs) transduced from surface acoustic waves (SAWs) generated by a rapidly oscillating piezoelectric substrate. In this approach, temporary pores are established across the cellular membrane as cells are partially deformed and squeezed or subject to shearing forces as they travel through the vibrational modes created within the microfludic channel(s) of the device.