Contact imager for integrated functional assessment of organs-on-a-chip

We describe a microfluidic platform for the assessment of small blood vessel function. The new, compact modular platform allows to reversibly host mouse mesenteric arteries on a microfluidic chip, without the need for any manual on-chip manipulation. The luminal and abluminal sides of chip-hosted vessels are exposed to well-defined chemical microenvironments, and physiological levels of transmural pressure and temperature are established. Vasoconstriction was induced by abluminal presentation of phenylephyrene and dose-response experiments were conducted. Vessel constriction was directly determined by direct projection of the chip-hosted artery via a fiber-optic faceplate onto a CMOS sensor, therefore removing the need for a microscope and an external camera. We believe the demonstrated approach will be broadly applicable for the routine functional assessment of different microtissues and organs-on-a-chip. In the context of intact arteries, the approach may ultimately enable the clinical assessment of patient microvascular status.