{"id":149232,"date":"2025-10-08T09:01:59","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T13:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=149232"},"modified":"2026-02-10T09:17:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:17:39","slug":"ucf-faculty-graduate-student-develop-organ-on-a-chip-technology-for-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-faculty-graduate-student-develop-organ-on-a-chip-technology-for-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Faculty, Graduate Student Develop Organ-on-a-Chip Technology for Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

UCF researchers are developing powerful possibilities for industrially aligned research<\/a> to support advances in healthcare with organ-on-a-chip (OOC) technology.<\/p>\n

OOC is built on a miniature glass wafer with human cells that mimics the function of human organs. The chips contain tiny channels lined with living cells, allowing researchers to study how tissues respond to medications, infections or disease in ways that traditional lab methods cannot.<\/p>\n

College of Engineering and Computer Science<\/a> Associate Professor Swaminathan Rajaraman and electrical engineering<\/a> doctoral student Surbhi Tidke have built on that concept by measuring transepithelial electrical resistance, or TEER \u2014 a key indicator of how well cells form protective barriers.<\/p>\n

By integrating TEER-on-a-chip, researchers can monitor barrier integrity in real time, offering a noninvasive tool for diagnosing and studying diseases that affect tissues such as those in the lungs, intestines or brain.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing TEER-on-a-chip, we measure resistance by sending a very small, harmless current across a layer of cells to see how much the cells push back against it,\u201d Tidke says. \u201cIf they are packed tightly together, the current has a harder time getting through, which means the cell layers are healthy. If they are loose or leaky, the current passes more easily, showing there is some problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers say a loose or leaky response can point to damage, disease or other problems on the tissue and this technology can aid personalized healthcare solutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a mini lab, where pharmacists or doctors will be able to see in real time how a particular medication or treatment causes the individual\u2019s sample cells to react,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Rajaraman, who is also a faculty member in UCF\u2019s NanoScience Technology Center<\/a>, explains that one of the unique aspects of their research is the transparent electrodes, or wires to facilitate real-time measurements \u2014 without blocking the view.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have transparent electrodes, which is what we’ve been able to create, now, you can get simultaneous real time electrical measurements as you\u2019re imaging these things optically as well,\u201d says Rajaraman. \u201cIt\u2019s like a multi-modal sensor that can do a lot of different things in the electrical and optical domains.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Lab to Industry<\/h2>\n

The TEER-on-a-Chip technology is funded by the Multi-functional Integrated System Technology (MIST) Center, a research consortium under the support of the U.S. National Science Foundation. The MIST Center links university researchers with industry partners to commercialize their research.<\/p>\n

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