Microfabrication of polydimethylsiloxane-parylene hybrid microelectrode array integrated into a multi-organ-on-a-chip

Multi-organ-on-a-chip devices have attracted extensive attention because they hold great potential for advancing drug discovery and development by recapitulating human physiological conditions. However, they often lack on-chip analytical technologies for the in situ non-invasive real-time monitoring of organ tissue responses to pharmaceutical compounds over extended durations. Here, we introduce the microfabrication of a multi-organ-on-a-chip by integrating two indispensable components into a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microfluidic device: a pneumatic-actuated micropump to generate a circulation flow for organ-organ interaction and a parylene-insulated microelectrode array (MEA) for electrophysiological analysis. We demonstrated that the pumping performance of the micropump was sufficient for recapitulating the metabolite interaction, and the measured impedance magnitude was comparable to that of state-of-the-art MEA devices. The experimental results suggest that the present microfabrication has potential applications such as the measurement of electrophysiological parameters under recapitulating metabolite interaction, enabling more comprehensive drug testing in vitro.

Automated summary

Multi-organ-on-a-chip devices have gained attention for their ability to mimic human physiological conditions, but they lack on-chip analytical technologies for real-time monitoring. In this study, a microfabricated multi-organ-on-a-chip was developed by integrating a pneumatic-actuated micropump and a parylene-insulated microelectrode array (MEA) into a PDMS-based microfluidic device. The experimental results showed that the micropump performance was sufficient for simulating metabolite interaction, and the impedance magnitude measured was comparable to state-of-the-art MEA devices. This microfabrication method has potential applications in comprehensive in vitro drug testing.