A modular microfluidic chip unit for multiple-organ-on-chip platform integration and drug screening

Organ-on-chip systems are designed to recapitulate microphysiological environments for in vitro evaluation of drug safety and efficacy, offering a promising alternative to animal models in pharmaceutical research. However, in vivo organs are separated by distinct barriers yet interconnected through systemic circulation. Inspired by modular interlocking systems, we developed a reconfigurable microfluidic chip array unit for constructing a multi-organ-on-a-chip (MoC) platform. Each unit features a bicompartmental design with integrated microchannels, supporting static or bidirectional dynamic perfusion. Units can be assembled into linear arrays for high-throughput experiments or matrix arrays for systemic analysis. As a proof of concept, we assembled a liver-tumour system and found that varying the liver-to-tumour cell ratio significantly altered drug efficacy and toxicity, demonstrating inter-organ crosstalk. This modular platform offers a scalable tool for studying systemic drug responses and inter-organ interactions, with strong potential to reduce the reliance on animal models in pharmaceutical research.