Developing organs-on-chips for biomedical applications

In recent years, organs-on-chips have been arousing great interest for their bionic and stable construction of crucial human organs in vitro. Compared with traditional animal models and two-dimensional cell models, organs-on-chips could not only overcome the limitations of species difference and poor predict ability but also be capable of reappearing the complex cell-cell interaction, tissue interface, biofluid and other physiological conditions of humans. Therefore, organs-on-chips have been regarded as promising and powerful tools in diverse fields such as biology, chemistry, medicine and so on. In this perspective, we present a review of organs-on-chips for biomedical applications. After introducing the key elements and manufacturing craft of organs-on-chips, we intend to review their cut-edging applications in biomedical fields, incorporating biological analysis, drug development, robotics and so on. Finally, the emphasis is focused on the perspectives of organs-on-chips. Organs-on-chips can reproduce the crucial structures and functions of human organs, thus providing powerful tools for revealing the physiological mechanisms and drug testing. This perspective discusses the advanced fabrication techniques of organs-on-chips and their biomedical applications such as toxicity evaluation and robotics. The emphasis is focused on the remaining challenges and future perspectives of organs-on-chips. image