Boing Boing » microfluidics http://boingboing.net Brain candy for Happy Mutants Tue, 21 May 2013 14:56:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 Brain-on-a-chip for drug testing and injury research http://boingboing.net/2012/10/22/brain-on-a-chip-for-drug-testi.html http://boingboing.net/2012/10/22/brain-on-a-chip-for-drug-testi.html#comments Mon, 22 Oct 2012 17:30:08 +0000 David Pescovitz http://boingboing.net/?p=189006 Draper Laboratory and University of South Florida researchers are developing a prototype "brain-on-a-chip." No, it's not an AI but rather a combination of living cells and microfluidics in a bio-artificial model of the brain's nerovascular unit, the system of neurons, capillaries, and other cells that control the supply of nutrients to the brain. Eventually, such a device could be used to test medications and vaccines. And that's just the beginning.

“In addition to screening drugs, we could potentially block vascular channels and mimic stroke or atherosclerotic plaque," says lead researcher Anil Achyuta. "Furthermore, this platform could eventually be used for neurotoxicology, to study the effects of brain injury like concussions, blast injuries, and implantable medical devices such as in neuroprosthetics.”

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