The project aims at a holistic new design strategy, coordinated pilot lines and business model for the prototyping, fabrication and commercialization of polymer-based microfluidic systems. It stems from the recognition that a microfluidic chip is a key part of a microfluidic MEMS, but only a part. Many limitations to fast prototyping, industrialization and ultimate performances lie not in the chip itself, but in the world-to-chip connections and integration of multiple external components. We shall address in a single strategy the streamlined construction of whole microfluidic systems, starting from existing pilot lines in injection moulding, 3D printing and instrument construction. This will specific innovations. First, the resolution of 3D printing will be increased by a factor at least 10, down to 1~3µm, with a throughput 10 to 100x higher than that of current high resolution 3D printing machines, to support the flexible production of chips with complex 3D architectures. New soft, bio, environment-friendly and/or active materials will be integrated in the production chain using a technology patented by the partners. Large-scale markets requiring mass production at the lowest cost will be addressed by a fully integrated pilot line, streamlining injection moulding of raw chips, reagents and components integration, sealing and quality control. Inter-compatibility between 3D printing and injection moulding, regarding architectures and materials, will be developed to accelerate the prototype to product value chain. After development and upscaling, the technology will be demonstrated and qualified in operational environment by end-users with lab-on-chip applications in health (cancer diagnosis, organ-on chip) and environment (water control). Partners jointly have the production lines onto which the project’s innovation will be readily integrated, helping microfluidics to become a major component of the 4th industrial revolution.

The aim of Project INDEX is to isolate and characterize nanoparticles available in bodily fluids through development and integration of novel technological breakthroughs. The technology will enable the analysis of clinically valuable nanoparticles called exosomes towards new generation diagnostics. Exosomes are known to mediate communication between cells and their effective utilization holds a great promise of revolutionizing the standard of clinical care. However, their detection and molecular profiling is technically challenging. The proposed technology will isolate exosomes that are as small as 30nm in diameter from human plasma with high purity, and provide in-depth, multi-parameter characterization of the particles through digital counting, size determination, and biological phenotyping. Towards this goal: (1) Novel microfluidics will be developed and used for efficient magnetic enrichment; (2) Isolated particles will be detected and analyzed with a novel biological nanoparticle (BNP) sensor (3) Immune-capture and release chemistries as well as phenotyping assays will be developed; (4) Critically, complete on-chip integration of isolation, detection and analysis will be accomplished; (5) Utility of in-depth exosome characterization will be demonstrated with clinical samples for lung cancer. Project INDEX requires successful integration of multiple sub-units and assays that each represents technological frontiers, which is extremely challenging. However, the breadth of information on exosomes that will be available with the integrated system is unmatched. Although, the clinical utility of exosomes is still developing, the uncertainty can only be clarified through automated technologies that provide latitude of information. Once completed, Project INDEX can demonstrate a new paradigm in cancer diagnostics, and also present a potential future technology for other applications involving nanoparticles.

The aim of the MyoChip project is to build a 3D human skeletal muscle irrigated by vasculature and innervated by neurons. The reconstituted 3D muscle will mirror the architecture and function found in vivo, namely in shape, contractility and microenvironment, while irrigation by a vascular network and innervation by human motor neurons will bring additional physiologic pertinence to it. This organ-on-a-chip technology will have numerous applications including but not limited to research on muscle building and aging, drug testing and screening, as well as prosthetics and biorobotics. The feasibility of the project relies on the interdisciplinary approach which joins a team of cell biologists, material engineers, experts in microfluidics and mathematical modellers. The architecture of skeletal muscle and its regenerative capabilities make muscle a prime candidate to push the 3D tissue engineering field. As such the project will lay the technical, material and methodological foundations to tackle the next generation of complex organ-on-a-chip systems that the MyoChip consortium can exploit for the generation of highly complex 3D in vitro systems of many organs.