Last week we had the visit of our Dutch colleagues of ACTA and Ocello, partners in one of the Euopean projects that we are involved about Bone on a Chip. During two days we explained our developments of the last 6 months and discuss about possible improvements in the different areas involved in the design and validation of the new device.
BONAFIDE will develop, validate and deliver an in vitro human bone-on-chip platform that will simulate bone growth, resorption and remodeling for medium/ high throughput evaluation of drugs (e.g. anti-osteoporosis, nutrients, and biomaterials (e.g. bone cements). The BONAFIDE platform can be directly implemented in the preclinical workflow of companies and consists of a microfluidic chip containing a bone-mimetic matrix and standard operating procedures for human bone culture.
To build organs on a chip, it is neccesary to combine multiple types of cells from an organ on a microfluidic chip, while steadily supplying nutrients, removing waste, and applying mechanical forces the tissues would face in the body. In the future, the researchers could potentially grow human bones in immune-deficient mice.