There have been many microfluid technologies combined with hanging-drop for cell culture gotten developed in the past decade. A common problem within these devices is that the cell suspension introduced at the central inlet could cause a number of cells in each microwell to not regularize. Also, the instability of droplets during the spheroid formation remains an unsolved ordeal. In this study, we designed a microfluidic-based hanging-drop culture system with the design of taper-tube that can increase the stability of droplets while enhancing the rate of liquid exchange. A ring is surrounding the taper-tube. The ring can hold the cells to enable us to seed an adequate amount of cells before perfusion. Moreover, during the period of cell culture, the mechanical force around the cell is relatively low to prevent stem cells from differentiate and maintain the phenotype. As a result of our hanging system design, cells are designed to accumulate at the bottom of the droplet. This method enhances convenience for observation activities and analysis of experiments. Thus, this microfluid chip can be used as an in vitro platform representing in vivo physiological conditions, and can be useful in regenerative therapy.
Keywords: 3D culture; hanging drop; microfluid; spheroid.