Regenerative Medicine Technology

<p>Miniaturization in the fields of chemistry and molecular biology has resulted in the lab-on-a-chip. Such systems are micro-fabricated devices capable of handling extremely small fluid volumes facilitating the scaling of single or multiple lab processes down to a microchip-sized format. The convergence of lab-on-a-chip technology with the field of cell biology facilitated the development of organ-on-a-chip systems. Such systems simulate the function of tissues and organs having the potential to bypass some cell and animal testing methods. These technologies have generated high interest as applications for disease modeling and drug discovery. </p><p></p><p>This book edited by Drs. Sean Murphy and Anthony Atala provides a comprehensive coverage of the technologies that have been used to develop organ-on-a-chip systems. Known leaders cover the basics to the most relevant and novel topics in the field including micro-fabrication 3D bio-printing 3D cell culture techniques biosensor design and microelectronics micro-fluidics data collection and predictive analysis. The book describes specific tissue types amenable for disease modeling and drug discovery applications. Lung liver heart skin and kidney on-a-chip technologies are included as well as a progress report on designing an entire body-on-a-chip system. Additionally the book covers applications of various systems for modeling tissue-specific cancers metastasis and tumor microenvironments; and provides an overview of current and potential applications of these systems to disease modeling toxicity testing and individualized medicine.</p>