Abstract
3D bio-artificial liver systems and transplantable devices are gaining significance due to the increase in number of patients with liver diseases. We demonstrate an ex-vivo system that mimics liver tissue and enhance the liver specific function with better viability. The proposed in vitro microchip takes advantage of micro contact printing and encapsulating process to achieve the goal. A multiple layer microfluidic channels were conjugated with this system to enable encapsulation of cell within sodium alginate to feign vascular network for the liver tissue. Urea secretion confirmed the cell functionality and the cell viability were affirmed by MTT assay throughout the culture period for different culture pattern. The aforementioned method will further be applied to mimic 3D liver tissue so that the microenvironment can be much closer to clinical trials in bio-artificial liver support systems.