Abstract
Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) technology has emerged as a promising tool for preclinical drug discovery and disease modeling, offering the ability to recapitulate complex organ-level functions in vitro. However, the advancement of OoC has been hindered by the lack of integrated systems for real-time monitoring of physicochemical and biological parameters within the organ chamber. To address this challenge, we developed a microfluidic device incorporating a hollow microneedle patch (HMN patch) for direct collection of cell culture media from the organ chamber. HMN patches were fabricated with different diameter sizes and thicknesses, and their mechanical and wettability properties were characterized. The HMN patch with the best-combined properties was integrated into the microfluidic device and validated for media collection using a dye red solution. This study demonstrates the feasibility of integrating the proposed HMN patches into microfluidic systems for in-situ real-time monitoring of OoCs, making it possible to develop more ways for advanced preclinical diagnostic tools and personalized medicine applications.