Organ on a chip technology

Technology

An advanced lab technique where human cells (e.g., liver or heart cells) are grown to test drug toxicity, serving as an alternative to animal studies.


First Mentioned

1/16/2026, 4:43:41 AM

Last Updated

1/16/2026, 4:47:13 AM

Research Retrieved

1/16/2026, 4:47:13 AM

Summary

Organ-on-a-chip (OOC) technology is a bio-MEMS innovation that utilizes multi-channel 3D microfluidic cell cultures on integrated circuits to simulate the physiological responses and mechanics of human organs. By merging labs-on-chips with cell biology, OOC provides a sophisticated in vitro environment for studying human physiology, disease modeling, and toxicity testing. It is increasingly recognized as a viable alternative to animal models, aligning with the 3R principles of replacing, reducing, and refining animal testing. Under the leadership of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, the technology is being integrated into regulatory reforms to accelerate drug approval processes and shorten clinical trial timelines in the United States, aiming to enhance national competitiveness in the biotech sector.

Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
  • Field

    Bio-MEMS (Biomedical Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)

  • Core Components

    3D microfluidic cell cultures, integrated circuits, biocompatible materials, and microsensors

  • Simulated Organs

    Brain, lung, heart, kidney, liver, prostate, vessel, skin, bone, and cartilage

  • Market Growth Rate

    35.11% CAGR (2025-2030)

  • Research Applications

    Viral hepatitis, neurodegeneration, cardiovascular dysfunction, and aging processes

  • Projected Market Value

    $952.4 million by 2030

  • Regulatory Application

    Replacement for animal studies in drug development and toxicity testing

Timeline
  • FDA Commissioner Marty Makary discusses the use of Organ-on-a-chip technology to replace animal studies at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. (Source: Document 065d2e96-4d40-49bd-8511-d8d35f8b01f4)

    2025-01-13

  • Start of the projected five-year period of rapid market expansion for OOC technology with an estimated 35.11% CAGR. (Source: Web Search Result: Scispot)

    2025-01-01

  • The global organ-on-a-chip market is anticipated to reach a valuation of $952.4 million. (Source: Web Search Result: Scispot)

    2030-12-31

Organ-on-a-chip

An organ-on-a-chip (OOC) is a multi-channel 3D microfluidic cell culture, integrated circuit (chip) that simulates the activities, mechanics and physiological response of an entire organ or an organ system. It constitutes the subject matter of significant biomedical engineering research, more precisely in bio-MEMS. The convergence of labs-on-chips (LOCs) and cell biology has permitted the study of human physiology in an organ-specific context. By acting as a more sophisticated in vitro approximation of complex tissues than standard cell culture, they provide the potential as an alternative to animal models for drug development and toxin testing. Although multiple publications claim to have translated organ functions onto this interface, the development of these microfluidic applications is still in its infancy. Organs-on-chips vary in design and approach between different researchers. Organs that have been simulated by microfluidic devices include brain, lung, heart, kidney, liver, prostate, vessel (artery), skin, bone, cartilage and more. A limitation of the early organ-on-a-chip approach is that simulation of an isolated organ may miss significant biological phenomena that occur in the body's complex network of physiological processes, and that this oversimplification limits the inferences that can be drawn. Many aspects of subsequent microphysiometry aim to address these constraints by modeling more sophisticated physiological responses under accurately simulated conditions via microfabrication, microelectronics and microfluidics. The development of organ chips has enabled the study of the complex pathophysiology of human viral infections. An example is the liver chip platform that has enabled studies of viral hepatitis. Recent work has highlighted the use of organ-on-a-chip systems for modelling aging processes and age-related diseases, including neurodegeneration, cardiovascular dysfunction, and skin aging.

Web Search Results
  • A Comprehensive Review of Organ-on-a-Chip Technology and Its ...

    Organ-on-a-chip (OOC) is an emerging technology that simulates an artificial organ within a microfluidic cell culture chip. Current cell biology research focuses on in vitro cell cultures due to various limitations of in vivo testing. Unfortunately, in-vitro cell culturing fails to provide an accurate microenvironment, and in vivo cell culturing is expensive and has historically been a source of ethical controversy. OOC aims to overcome these shortcomings and provide the best of both in vivo and in vitro cell culture research. The critical component of the OOC design is utilizing microfluidics to ensure a stable concentration gradient, dynamic mechanical stress modeling, and accurate reconstruction of a cellular microenvironment. OOC also has the advantage of complete observation and [...] animal models. Organ-on-a-chip technology could speed up the time it takes for therapeutic compounds to enter clinical trials by reducing the reliance on animal testing, which is now the primary method used to evaluate the kinetics, efficacy, and safety of medication candidates. Also, studying pharmacokinetics in particular persons, i.e., personalized, is possible by cultivating human cells on chips . [...] 4. Organ-on-a-Chip OOC technology can simulate various organs, including the kidneys, lungs, heart, and liver, which are discussed below. All OOCs utilize microfluidics, biocompatible materials, and sensing components. These sensing components can include an automated imaging system, an embedded output sensing component, or various other microsensors . ### 4.1. Kidney-on-a-Chip

  • Growing human organs-on-a-chip - Roche

    It's smaller than an iPhone and yet it reflects the entire human organism: the Organs-on-a-Chip technology is a new alternative way to screen drug candidates in a very early stage for efficacy and toxicity. The technology enables researchers to cultivate human cells representing organs under physiological conditions. Multiple organs can be placed on one chip and are interconnected to model the dynamics of a human organism. This is possible because 3D cell culture, microfluids and 3D printing technologies allow the cultivation of cells from patients who, for example, reflect the disease genotype or phenotype. Therefore, the translucent devices provide a window into the tissue structures, functions, and mechanical motions of hearts, lungs, kidneys, arteries, intestines and other organs - in [...] We also hope that this technology will enable us to make "personalised" statements about the efficacy of an active substance or medication in an early stage. Every person has its own fingerprint when it comes to tolerating a medicine and benefitting of the same. Think about the differences in human beings, for example some are able to drink milk, others can’t. It can be a small mutation in an individual’s gene that changes how the person responds to different substances. In the long term, the Organs-on-a-Chip technology can help us advance human-based and personalised research and development of drugs. In addition, we are investing in this new technology because we are committed to the 3R principles of reducing, refining and replacing animal models whenever we can. “Organs-on-a-Chip [...] replacing animal models whenever we can. “Organs-on-a-Chip technology could potentially be a highly effective toxicity testing technique to use in line with the 3R principles: replace animal tests were possible; reduce the number of required animals; and refine existing scientific practices while still maintaining comparable results.”

  • The Top 20 Innovative Organ-on-a-Chip Companies in 2026 - Scispot

    ‍ ## Understanding Organ-on-a-Chip Technology Organ-on-a-chip technology involves microfluidic systems that mimic the physiological and mechanical environments of human organs. These devices contain living cells that replicate tissue functions, enabling more accurate drug screening, toxicology testing, and disease modeling. The global organ-on-a-chip market is experiencing rapid growth, with an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.11% from 2025 to 2030, anticipated to reach $952.4 million by 2030. citeturn0search0 This expansion is fueled by the increasing adoption of these systems by pharmaceutical firms, biotech startups, and regulatory agencies, propelling advancements in precision medicine. ‍ ‍ ## Top 20 Innovative Organ-on-a-Chip Companies in 2025 [...] ‍ ## The Future of Organ-on-a-Chip Technology The rapid advancement of organ-on-a-chip technology is reshaping the future of biomedical research and drug development. As the demand for human-relevant disease models continues to grow, organ-on-chip companies are playing a critical role in reducing preclinical drug failure rates, improving personalized medicine, and minimizing animal testing. With AI-powered analytics, automation, and multi-organ systems, researchers are now able to generate more predictive and scalable models than ever before. [...] ‍ Mimetas CEO: Paul Vulto Location: NetherlandsMimetas is a key player in organ-on-a-chip technology, known for its OrganoPlate® platform, which allows scientists to grow 3D human tissues with controlled perfusion. The platform is widely used for high-throughput drug screening, toxicity assessment, and disease modeling. Their blood-brain barrier-on-a-chip model is particularly valuable for neurological drug development. ‍ MesoBiotech

  • Organ-on-a-chip pack - Elveflow

    These applications hold the promise of having a significant impact on improving the predictability of drug screening models and personalized medicine. Organ-on-a-chip technology supports these research areas by providing an environment that can mimic the human physiology and morphology in vivo better than traditional static cell culturing methods. Scalable organ-on-a-chip production is made possible by combining the technologies originating from both the semiconductor and molecular biology industries. #### Organ-on-chip microfluidic devices The Organ-On-Chip Pack can be used with any commercial chip or self-made chip. [...] Contact us for more information! Organs-on-chips applications do not only have several advantages such as miniaturization, integration and low consumption, but also they allow researchers to accurately control the multiple parameters of a system such as chemical concentration gradient, fluid shear stress, cell patterning, tissue-tissue interface, organ-organ interaction and so on. They aim at mimicking the complex structure, microenvironment and physiological function of human organs. [...] ChipShop is a company offering versatile chips for several applications including 3D cell culture and organ-on-a-chip. Particularly, the cross flow membrane chip (Fluidic 480) enables to create a tissue interface to mimic organs functions (gut-on-chip, brain-on-chip, kidney-on-chip, skin-on-chip, etc.).This chip hosts two different culture chambers separated by a permeable membrane. Different cell types can be seeded on one or both sides of the membrane and exposed to dynamic flow conditions. Microchip with 2 independant chambers for organ on chip studies

  • A guide to the organ-on-a-chip | Nature Reviews Methods Primers

    Organs-on-chips (OoCs) are systems containing engineered or natural miniature tissues grown inside microfluidic chips. To better mimic human physiology, the chips are designed to control cell microenvironments and maintain tissue-specific functions. Combining advances in tissue engineering and microfabrication, OoCs have gained interest as a next-generation experimental platform to investigate human pathophysiology and the effect of therapeutics in the body. There are as many examples of OoCs as there are applications, making it difficult for new researchers to understand what makes one OoC more suited to an application than another. This Primer is intended to give an introduction to the aspects of OoC that need to be considered when developing an application-specific OoC. The Primer [...] ## Additional information ### Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. ## Supplementary information ### Supplementary Information ## Glossary Microsystems technology : A set of technologies for fabrication of planar devices having microscale and nanoscale features. Organ-on-a-chip (OoC)-containing microfluidic channels and integrated electrical and non-electrical components are often fabricated using microsystems technology. Lithographic pattern transfer : A microfabrication technique in which micrometre-sized features are transferred from a mould into a silicone polymer, usually poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS).