Organ-on-a-Chip Facility

The Cellular Pump system is a microgravity-enabled modification of a microfluidics platform. The unit provides controlled and continuous media perfusion to simulate fluidic flow experienced by cells and organs within the body. Effluent is collected in sample-specific reservoirs allowing researchers to analyze tissue output, including metabolomics. The fresh media supply and effluent reservoirs are assembled in a single cassette, allowing for facile exchange, thus maintenance of long term culture and time course experiments. In addition, the fluid components and concentrations in the cassettes can be customized on a per-sample basis enabling a wide variety of experimental designs, including preservation and fixation.

Cellular Pump is designed to integrate into SABL, BioServe’s next-generation incubator. SABL accommodates up to two pump units, in addition to an ACM for CO2 control. The hardware can also be integrated into standard laboratory incubators for ground testing and terrestrial controls. Although originally developed to support the Nortis Triplex MPS chip, the integrated chip cassettes were designed as modular items that can be swapped for other cassettes with minimal modification.

For transit to the ISSInternational Space Station, four Cellular Pump units can be supported in a powered locker.