Sarah Spitz

TL;DR: Two different microfluidic devices containing embedded sensor arrays are developed to monitor local oxygen levels to investigate oxygen consumption rates of 2D and 3D hydrogel-based cell cultures and the establishment of oxygen gradients within cell culture chambers, and how dynamic control of cyclic normoxic-hypoxic cell microenvironments can be readily accomplished using programmable flow profiles employing both gas-impermeable and gas- permeable microfluidity biochips.

TL;DR: Results show that fibrin hydrogels of 30 kPa Young’s modulus best guide chondrocyte redifferentiation resulting in a native-like morphology as well as induces the synthesis of physiologic ECM constituents such as glycosaminoglycans (sGAG) and collagen type II.

TL;DR: Characterization of four functional biomedical-grade pressure sensitive adhesives for rapid prototyping applications including structuring precision, physical and optical properties as well as biocompatibilities shows that both simple and complex microdevices can be designed, fabricated and tested in less than 1 hour.

TL;DR: Finite volume CFD simulations of different sized molecules vital for pre-vascular network formation into and out of the hydrogel constructs found that interstitial flow enhances growth factor supply to the cells in the bulk of the chamber but elutes cellular secretome, resulting in truncated, premature vascularization.

TL;DR: In this paper, a chip-based three-dimensional tissue coculture model that simulates the reciprocal cross talk between individual synovial and chondral organoids was established.