Advanced in vitro microfluidic tissue models, deemed “tissue chips” or “organs-on-chips”, seek to replicate the complexity of living organisms in a low-cost format suitable for high-throughput experimentation. To date, most such systems have relied on destructive techniques such as immunofluorescence microscopy, or downstream analysis of fluid in the microfluidic path, to report on the activity of the tissue chip under study. In order to provide real-time monitoring capability for tissue chips, we initiated a program to integrate photonic sensors (ring resonators fabricated in silicon nitride) in close proximity to the tissue under study. To date we have succeeded in developing a microfluidic device containing both a nanoporous membrane chip for suspended cell culture, along with a multiplex, antibody-functionalized ring resonator-based photonic sensor chip.
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