DIGITAL MICROFLUIDIC PLATFORM FOR CREATING, MAINTAINING AND ANALYZING 3-DIMENSIONAL CELL SPHEROIDS

摘要

The invention provides a microfluidic system for forming and/or analyzing multi-cellular spheroids in a hanging drop cell culture. Embodiments of the invention include microfluidic (DμF) systems capable of creating and supporting hanging droplets of cell culture media for the purpose of initiating and maintaining the growth of three-dimensional, multi-cellular spheroids. The microfluidic systems disclosed herein are compatible with numerous analysis modalities including microscopy, mass spectrometry, and fluorescence spectroscopy.