Holographic Assembler for 3D Cell Cultures

Introduction

Cell cultures are essential for biomedical research and drug screening. The environment and the arrangement directly affect cell function. It has become clear that biological cells behave differently when cultured on a surface as opposed to a 3D environment.

Importance of 3D Culturing

This discrepancy between 2D in vitro studies and the 3D environment found in vivo is critical for cancer research, most notably patient-specific therapy and high-throughput drug screening and discovery. Almost 90% of all drug candidates fail during the trial phases, and one of the main reasons identified is the low physiological relevance of 2D cell cultures.

Need for New Technologies

Technologies are needed that enable the fast and efficient culturing of 3D cell assemblies with high repeatability and control over size and morphology.

Project Overview

Here, we use our recently developed technology and fabrication know-how together with the expertise from our ERC-funded research to realize the first 3D bioassembler where the shape of the cell aggregates can be precisely defined by the user.

Goals of the ERC-POC Grant

Within this ERC-POC grant, we plan to develop a fully operational, stand-alone benchtop bioassembler that:

1. Instantly aggregates biological cells, spheroids, particles, or hydrogel capsules into fully defined 3D structures using acoustic holography.
2. Is an easy-to-use and affordable instrument that is fully compatible with established biological procedures and laboratory equipment.
3. Allows scientists to culture the specific cell structures they need.

Commercialization Strategy

The grant will allow us to protect our know-how, identify further markets, and develop a commercialization strategy for our technology.

Conclusion

Overall, this project will generate the first 3D cell assembler that permits the generation of user-defined cell spheroids and custom shapes at the press of a button and thus presents an innovation with a sizeable market potential.