PET validates device that could replace animals used in drug safety testing

A novel 3D-printed device that could replace the need for drug and chemical safety testing on animals has received new funding.

Invented at the University of Edinburgh, the plastic ‘body-on-chip’ device mimics how a drug moves through the body’s organs, using PET imaging to validate its journey. The team behind it has received £260,000 from the Medical Research Council to test it using sterile materials, after its ability to replicate drug perfusion was proven and presented at the Microphysiological Systems World Summit in Germany last summer.

Currently being 3D printed in collaboration with Edinburgh College of Art, the device’s five compartments contain human cells representing the heart, lungs, kidney, liver and brain, connected by channels that mimic the circulatory system, through which a small molecule drug is pumped.

Inventor and in vitro pharmacology PhD student Liam Carr said: “Using mathematic modelling, we have found that the rate of transfer into the organ compartments and the uptake of nutrients in vitro mimics in vivo organ results. It has been really exciting to be able to use PET imaging to modify the device and
produce even flow through all organ compartments.”

The success of the body-on-chip so far shows potential beyond drug development, for example to test aerosols, food and household products. It also holds the possibility of adding more compartments to represent other organs such as the stomach or skin, in states representative of human health and disease.

Picture: Dr Adriana Tavares of the University of Edinburgh Centre for Cardiovascular Science with in vitro pharmacology PhD student Liam Carr and the body-on-chip device.

Published on page 15 of the February 2024 issue of RAD Magazine.