Overview
- MIT and Johns Hopkins engineers reported a working 3D-printed microfluidic prototype that forms a vacuum seal on surgically removed fallopian-tube tissue and uses fluid shear to detach and collect living cells.
- The device uses one syringe to create a local vacuum that seals the chip to tissue and a second syringe to push liquid across the surface, gently shearing cells into collection channels.
- Researchers collected cells ex vivo without destroying surrounding tissue so the same sample can still be fixed and sectioned for standard pathology.
- The team observed the method in Johns Hopkins operating rooms and says the approach could enable patient-derived organoids and ex vivo drug testing to guide personalized treatment.
- The work is at an early validation stage and the researchers plan to add optical targeting for finer spatial sampling, adapt the tool for routine histopathology workflows, and test it on more samples and other organs.