Applications of Polymers for Organ-on-Chip Technology in Urology

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Microfluidics
• Organ-on-a-Chip Technology

Background:

• Organ-on-chips (OOCs) are microfluidic devices that create biomimetic systems of human organs.
• OOCs offer advantages over traditional preclinical models by recapitulating multicellular structures, tissue interactions, and human pathologies.
• In cancer research, OOCs effectively mimic the tumor microenvironment and complex 3D tumor structures, providing a cost-efficient solution for drug screening and tumor growth studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the scientific literature on microfluidic devices for urology applications.
• To cover OOC fabrication principles and materials.
• To examine kidney-on-chip, bladder-on-chip, and prostate-on-chip models for disease and cancer modeling.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of microfluidic devices for urology.
• Analysis of OOC fabrication techniques and materials.
• Examination of kidney, bladder, and prostate OOC models for specific applications.

Main Results:

• OOCs recapitulate native organ function and cellular mechanical strain.
• OOCs are effective for drug-toxicity screening and modeling kidney tumors.
• OOCs are utilized for modeling urinary tract infections, bladder cancer, and prostate cancer.

Conclusions:

• OOC technology provides a powerful platform for urological disease modeling and drug development.
• The review highlights the fabrication and application of OOCs in kidney, bladder, and prostate research.
• OOCs represent a significant advancement in preclinical research for urological conditions and cancer.