In Vitro Organ Imaging Device (IV-OID) with integrated Biosensing and Real-Time Imaging Capability: Proof-of-Principle using a Human Placental Model

将新药或疫苗推向市场对研究人员和药品制造商来说都是一项复杂的任务。最近的研究报告称，从1950年到2010年，开发一种药物的成本几乎每十年翻一番。与40年前相比，今天的药物或候选疫苗更有可能在临床试验中失败。对于高失败率，人们提出了不同的原因，其中之一是临床前模型不能完全再现人体生理。因此，需要更复杂和可预测的体外模型，以便更好地模拟人类对药物或疫苗的反应。在此，我们建议开发一个新的技术平台…e，一种基于中空纤维技术和成像兼容材料的体外器官成像装置（IV-OID）。该平台旨在实现以下目标：(a)创建人体组织替代平台，研究人员可以使用该平台代替动物或人类进行药物测试。(c)设计类似器官的模型系统，作为深入了解传染病潜在机制的一种手段。(b)利用最先进的显微镜对病原体的行为和导致疾病的方式进行高分辨率可视化观察。我们的技术平台将通过建立人类胎盘模型和评估其与刚地弓形虫等微生物病原体相关的屏障功能来验证。如果成功，IV-OID将通过我们的工业项目合作伙伴flock公司提供给更广泛的学术界和工业界。

Bringing a new drug or a vaccine to the market is a complex task for both researchers and drug manufacturers. Recent studies reported that the costs of developing a drug had nearly doubled every decade between 1950 and 2010. Today's drug or vaccine candidates are more likely to fail in clinical trials compared to 40 years ago. Different reasons have been put forth explaining the high failure rate, one of them being that preclinical models cannot fully recapitulate the human physiology. Hence, the need for more complex and predictive in vitro models which can better mimic the human response to drug or vaccine is essential. Here, we propose to develop a novel technological platform i..e, an In Vitro Organ Imaging Device (IV-OID) based on the use of hollow fibre technology and imaging-compatible materials. The platform aims to address the following objectives:(a) Creation of a human tissue surrogate platform that researchers can use e.g., to test drugs, in lieu of animals or humans.(c) Engineering of an organ-like model systems as a means of providing insight into the mechanisms underlying infectious diseases.(b) High-resolution visualisation of how pathogens behave and lead to diseases using state-of-the art microscopes.Our technological platform will be validated through the set up of a human placental model and the evaluation of its barrier functions in relation to microbial pathogens such as Toxoplasma Gondii. If successful, the IV-OID will be made available to the wider academic and industrial communities through our industrial project partner, Flocel Inc.