Microfluidic Gastrointestinal Cell Culture Technologies—Improvements in the Past Decade

TL;DR

This paper reviews how microfluidic technologies have improved gastrointestinal cell cultures over the past decade.

Contribution

The paper categorizes and reviews advancements in microfluidic gastrointestinal cell culture technologies.

Findings

Microfluidic technologies have enhanced selectivity and cost-effectiveness in gastrointestinal cell cultures.

Three categories of microfluidic devices are discussed with their respective improvements.

Future applications include modular microfluidics and point-of-care devices.

Abstract

Gastrointestinal cell culture technology has evolved in the past decade with the integration of microfluidic technologies, bringing advantages with greater selectivity and cost effectiveness. Herein, these technologies are sorted into three categories, namely the cell-culture insert devices, conventional microfluidic devices, and 3D-printed microfluidic devices. Each category is discussed in brief with improvements also discussed here. Introduction of different companies and applications derived from each are also provided to encourage uptake. Subsequently, future perspectives of integrating microfluidics with trending topics like stool-derived in vitro communities and gut–immune–tumor axis investigations are discussed. Insights on modular microfluidics and its implications on gastrointestinal cell cultures are also discussed here. Future perspectives on point-of-care (POC) applications in relations to gastrointestinal microfluidic devices are also discussed here. In conclusion, this review presents an introduction of each microfluidic platform with an insight into the greater contribution of microfluidics in gastrointestinal cell cultures.

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