Microfluidic technologies for ex vivo tissue biopsies: A review

Traditional in vitro models and animal models often lack the physiological complexity or the accuracy to obtain predictive responses that are clinically translatable to humans. With the advent of microphysiological systems over recent years, new models that are able to mimic human biology more closely have been developed. The culture of whole tissue samples within microfluidic devices promises to bridge preclinical and clinical research, and has the potential to be applied in personalised medicine, environmental sciences or the food industry. However, many challenges must be addressed in terms of tissue maintenance ex vivo or methods for analysing samples, particularly in real-time. In this review, we explore the microfluidic strategies that have been reported for the culture of tissue biopsies ex vivo and the different techniques that have been explored in order to expand their life span, control the microenvironment and interrogate the samples. Current challenges facing the field are also discussed.