Arteries on chips: Recent technology may speed up testing of new cardiovascular treatments

Device developed in Holland faithfully simulates human blood vessels in preclinical studies

Illustration of the inside of human arteries

Dutch researchers have developed a device based on bioengineering, capable of simulating the function of human arteries in the laboratory.

Known as the OrganoPlate 2-lane-48 UF, the instrument replicates blood perfusion in the coronary artery, which irrigates the cardiac muscle using microchannels lined with human cells.

The system was created by Mimetas, a Dutch biotechnology startup with subsidiaries in the US and Japan, in partnership with Leiden University, and is described in an article published in the periodical Lab on a Chip.

Dispensing with the use of conventional pumps, the “artificial blood” is generated by a motorized base that rocks the chip from one side to the other.

“This platform offers better flow control, scalability, and compatibility with laboratory automation, and is a valuable tool for drug discovery,” the authors of the study suggest.

Compact format, complex function

The device is an 8 x 12 centimeter (cm) plate housing 48 chips, each having a microscopic channel covered with cultures of endothelial cells (which line the inside of the arteries) and smooth muscular cells (which regulate blood vessel contraction). Together, these cells faithfully replicate the physiological functions of the blood vessels.

Depending on the applied flow direction, researchers can simulate healthy and unhealthy artery conditions.

The unidirectional flow leads to the formation of relaxed elongated endothelial and muscle cells, characteristic of functional blood vessels.

The bidirectional flow reduces cells with typical patterns of vascular dysfunctions and inflammations, suggesting that the model may be used to study endothelial inflammation and other pathological alterations.

A response to stagnation in cardiovascular innovation

Despite cardiovascular diseases still being the main cause of death globally, the development of new medications has been slowing down.

One of the obstacles is the low level of predictability in animal models such as mice, compared to the human response. Cost is also a limiting factor.

According to a report by The Economist Intelligence Unit published in 2024, the average price to bring a new medication to market has risen from US$1.1 billion to US$4.4 billion in the last twenty years, with failure rates of up to 90% in clinical trials.

“This device represents a huge step towards scalable, relevant models for cardiovascular disease research,” said Lenie van den Broek, coauthor of the study and director of Biological Discovery at Mimetas, in a company press release.

* This article may be republished online under the CC-BY-NC-ND Creative Commons license.
The text must not be edited and the author(s) and source (Science Arena) must be credited.