The ERC Starting Grant winning EvOoC - Evolving Organs-on-Chip from developmental engineering to “mechanical re-evolution” project aims at developing smart mechanically active Organs-on-Chip platforms as clinically relevant in vitro setups to unravel mechanisms underlying tissue regeneration and progression of unmet diseases.
Towards this vision, a new method is being developed (Evolving Organs-on-Chip, EvOoC), integrating three enabling functions:
- “Move” - to apply native-inspired mechanical forces to tissues in vitro;
- “Sense” – to monitor tissue development in real time;
- “Adapt” – to modulate system inputs as a function of tissue responses through Artificial Intellignece (AI)-based algorithms.
By combining principles of microfabrication, developmental biology, mechanobiology and Artificali Intelligence, EvOoC will revolutionize basic studies in tissue development and disease modeling, facilitating innovative translational strategies to tackle tissue repair in manifold therapeutic applications.
