The Crown JeWell of 3D Organoid Imaging
Opportunity
Efficient cell culture is one of the major tools needed for drug screening, manufacturing of biological compounds and the production of tissue-like organoids.
For accurate information organoids need to be consistent and reproducible. The major challenge to harnessing the potential of organoids in health and disease requires a parallel approach that enables growth of large numbers – hundreds or thousands – of organoids, coupled with the ability for live observation of the development of all these organoids for characterization.
There is still an unmet need to address these challenges which this technology could provide a one-stop automated platform for growing, imaging and characterizing organoids. The result was achieved by synergistically combining advanced microfabrication, imaging and biological protocols to grow reproducible organoids over long term for live and 3D imaging of these organoids that can be done at high speed and scaled up for high content analysis.
In addition, as organoids of different kind come in a variety of unique physical and growth requirements, the shape, size, and condition of JeWells can be customised to cater to them accordingly.
Technology
At the core of the invention are microfabricated chips known as the “JeWell chip”. Each chip can contain up to thousands of JeWells, which are microscopic, pyramid-shaped chambers.
This is in a precise configuration which is defined by a peripheral wall and an aperture at a top portion of the peripheral wall for insertion of cells. The method of fabricating the silicon primary mould involves multiple lithographic procedures and is carried out in a clean environment.
Each wall of the pyramidal cavities in the JeWell is fabricated to reflect light, effectively acting as a mirror. These micro-mirrors work together with a light source introduced through the same single lens used for acquiring real-time images of the samples, a method known as “single-objective selective-plane illumination microscopy (soSPIM)”.
The JeWell surfaces also have an antifouling coating to prevent unwanted microorganism growth. Use of the 3D cell culture chips for organoid growth and analysis has been demonstrated in prototypes.
Illustration of cell aggregates growing in JeWells
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