Organs-on-chips are dynamic cell culture devices created with the intention to mimic organ function in vitro. Their purpose is to assess the toxicity and efficacy of drugs and, as early as possible in the pharmaceutical development process, predict the outcome of clinical trials. The aim of this thesis is to explain and discuss these cell culture devices from a design perspective and to experimentally exemplify some of the specific functions that characterize organs-on-chips.

The cells in our body reside in complex environments with chemical and mechanical cues that affect their function and purpose. Such a complex environment is difficult to recreate in the laboratory and has therefore been overlooked in favor of more simple models, i.e. static twodimensional (2D) cell cultures. Numerous recent reports have shown cell culture systems that can resemble the cell’s natural habitat and enhance cell functionality and thereby potentially provide results that better reflects animal and human trials. The way these organs-on-chips improve in vitro cell culture assays is to include e.g. a three-dimensional cell architecture (3D), mechanical stimuli, gradients of oxygen or nutrients, or by combining several relevant cell types that affect each other in close proximity.

The research conducted for this thesis shows how cells in 3D spheroids or in 3D hydrogels can be cultured in perfused microbioreactors. Furthermore, a pump based on electroosmosis, and a method for an objective conceptual design process, is introduced to the field of organs-on-chips.