Equipment for biomechanical characterization of organ-on-a-chip devices

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We are requesting two unique and customized micromechanical testers that enable delineation of in situ mechanical properties of organ-on-a-chip devices fabricated on a foot print of a well plate. Such micromechanical testers are not currently available in the region and only basic models are available in Canada. A unique feature of our organ-on-a-chip devices is that polymeric materials serve to both anchor the tissue and sense the force exerted by them, thus enabling continuous functional readouts by visualization of polymer material deflection. Accurate force readouts require calibration for which these micromechanical in situ testers are urgently needed. The requested model can measure forces down to 10nN at a physiological material temperature and a spatial resolution for displacement of 0.1um. Without accurate force readouts, drug testing results are meaningless defying the ultimate purpose of organ-on-a-chip research. The requested micromechanical tester will be customized for this application to enable testing of devices with a foot print of a 96-well plate. Devices in each well will be tested serially without the need to reload the sample. Standard models only allow placement of one material at the time into the testing chamber. Our research progress, ability to innovate on the current organ-on-a-chip device design, ability to publish as well as to commercialize new devices are on hold until the new micromechanical testers are obtained. We are also requesting an SLA 3D printer and a biosafety cabinet to increase the throughput of production of these organ-on-a-chip devices and introduce sterile fabrication capability. The requested equipment will be used by 35 trainees from the co-applicant laboratories (Radisic, Guenther, Simmons and You). Additional 227 trainees from 63PIs will have access to this equipment through the shared facility co-founded by Drs. Guenther and Radisic: Centre for Research and Applications in Fluidic Technologies (CRAFT). Also benefiting from this equipment will be 59 trainees from the NSERC CREATE Training Program in Organ-on-a-Chip Engineering & Entrepreneurship (TOeP) that Dr. Radisic directs. Our team of researchers consisting of Dr. Radisic, Dr. Guenther, Dr. Simmons and Dr. You is exceptionally well balanced (50% female; 25% minority, 75% immigrant) enabling training in a diverse environment.