Vascularized organoid-on-a-chip: design, imaging, and analysis

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Tissue Engineering
• Organoid Technology

Background:

• Vascularized organoid-on-a-chip (VOoC) models enhance physiological relevance in vitro by enabling substance exchange in deep organoid layers.
• Current VOoC designs focus on endothelial cell self-assembly or pre-patterned lumens within hydrogels for controlled perfusion.
• High-resolution imaging of VOoC vasculature is often limited by tissue scattering, hindering deep optical penetration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive overview of vascularized organoid-on-a-chip (VOoC) models.
• To review applicable optical imaging and tissue optical clearing (TOC) techniques for VOoC characterization.
• To summarize vascular analysis methods, including deep learning, and discuss future directions.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on VOoC chip designs and culturing strategies.
• Analysis of optical imaging techniques and tissue optical clearing (TOC) applications in VOoC.
• Survey of vascular analysis methodologies, with a focus on deep learning approaches.

Main Results:

• VOoC models offer improved substance exchange and physiological relevance compared to traditional organoids.
• Tissue optical clearing (TOC) techniques enable deeper 3D visualization of VOoC vasculature.
• Deep learning methods show promise for efficient analysis of large-scale VOoC imaging data.

Conclusions:

• VOoC technology, combined with advanced imaging and analysis, holds significant potential for in vitro disease modeling and drug screening.
• Further development of efficient vascular analysis tools is crucial for unlocking the full potential of VOoC.
• Addressing challenges in imaging depth and data analysis will drive future advancements in organoid-on-a-chip systems.