Harvard University successfully manufacturing chips lungs to breathe freely

Recently, the Harvard Institute for use micro products Weiss manufacturing technology and tissue engineering technology, and human cells and vacuum chip in combination with the "a" to be able to breathe artificial lung.

Harvard Weiss Institute main bio-engineering, by Harvard University, Harvard Medical School Boston children's Hospital Invitational research institutions. This coin size such as a piece of rubber appliance mimics the lung alveoli of the most active, and able to complete the oxygen, mixed-blood.

Because of this "chip" devices such as the lungs of bacteria as well as air pollution resulting reaction is similar to the lungs, and living in the future will likely be used to test the drug safety and human response to environmental pollution.

This device can significantly reduce pharmaceutical inspection laboratory for live animals, and also the dependence can reduce pharmaceutical drug costs, shorten time to market. The most exciting is that this "chip lung" system allows scientists to see manufacturing complete artificial lung of hope.

Even at present, the translucent lungs can also help researchers understand the principle of operation of the lungs.

The Director of the Harvard Institute of Weiss and the main contribution of the project papers were Donald · British Bo (Donald Ingber) said: "the ' chip lung ' device, high resistance to many scientific experiments in the future to provide a better choice, will no doubt place large numbers of the original test on animals. "It is understood that the research results were published on 25 June in the United States," Science "magazine.

Currently, tissue engineering research on micro-systems are mostly affected by the mechanical or biological constraints, Donald said: "unless we get a real experiment in living cells, tissues, and organs, otherwise it will be difficult to understand the operation of biological systems.

"And the" chip "devices let scientists in the lung tissue engineering research a step forward, it will be two-story living tissue — inner, outer layer for the alveolar to blood circulation layer, use vacuum principle let air throughout the system to be highly restore operations.

To this end, specializing in bio-chemical micro-fluid system of the University of Chicago Professor Ruth Bantam chemistry · Iran Sima Kirov (Rustem Ismagilov) said: "this was the ' chip ' in the mechanical and biological real restore biological response capacity is really exciting.

However, I believe the current to forecast the success of the project in the future is still too early. ”

Harvard Weiss Institute also study other model of human organs, such as chip stomach, simulation model of bone marrow or even cancer.

Next, they will also attempt to combine multiple analog organ and composition of the model of physiological systems. For example, Donald is working with the Harvard School of engineering and applied science's Kevin · Parker · Kitt (Kevin Kit Parker) cooperation, want Parker developed "chip heart" and "chip lung" combined to form a more complete system.