Advances in Spheroids and Organoids on a Chip

Abstract

Multicellular spheroids and organoids are promising in vitro 3D models in personalized medicine and drug screening. They replicate the structural and functional characteristics of human organs in vivo. Microfluidic technology and micro-nano fabrication can fulfill the high requirement of the engineering approach in the growing research interest in spheroids and organoids. In this review, spheroids and organoids are comparatively introduced. Then it is illustrated how spheroids- and organoids-on-a-chip technology facilitates their establishment, expansion, and application through spatial-temporal control, mechanical cues modeling, high-throughput analysis, co-culture, multi-tissue interactions, biosensing, and bioimaging integration. The potential opportunities and challenges in developing spheroids- and organoids-on-a-chip technology are finally outlooked.