Browsing by Author "Tien, Chang-Hung"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Digital Microfluidic Dynamic Culture of Mammalian Embryos on an Electrowetting on Dielectric (EWOD) Chip
(2015-05-01)
Huang, Hong-Yuan
;
Shen, Hsien-Hua
;
Tien, Chang-Hung
;
Li, Chin-Jung
;
Fan, Shih-Kang
Current human fertilization in vitro (IVF) bypasses the female oviduct and manually inseminates, fertilizes and cultivates embryos in a static microdrop containing appropriate chemical compounds. A microfluidic microchannel system for IVF is considered to provide an improved in-vivo-mimicking environment to enhance the development in a culture system for an embryo before implantation. We demonstrate a novel digitalized microfluidic device powered with electrowetting on a dielectric (EWOD) to culture an embryo in vitro in a single droplet in a microfluidic environment to mimic the environment in vivo for development of the embryo and to culture the embryos with good development and live births. Our results show that the dynamic culture powered with EWOD can manipulate a single droplet containing one mouse embryo and culture to the blastocyst stage. The rate of embryo cleavage to a hatching blastocyst with a dynamic culture is significantly greater than that with a traditional static culture (p<0.05). The EWOD chip enhances the culture of mouse embryos in a dynamic environment. To test the reproductive outcome of the embryos collected from an EWOD chip as a culture system, we transferred embryos to pseudo-pregnant female mice and produced live births. These results demonstrate that an EWOD-based microfluidic device is capable of culturing mammalian embryos in a microfluidic biological manner, presaging future clinical application.
Fabrication of 3D Microfluidic Chip integrating Concentration gradient design and Perfusion system for Embryo coculture with Stromal cells
(2012-01-01)
Chang, Pei-Yu
;
Chang, Kuo-Wei
;
Lin, Ciou-Wen
;
Shih, Po-Chen
;
Liu, Cheng-Hsien
Fabrication of 3D chip that enables cell culture under continuous flow perfusion and repeated in situ observation by light microscopy is described. Thin polydimethylsiloxane PDMS) membrane was etched to create an array of through-holes, and sandwiched between two PDMS channels to form an upper chamber and lower chamber. Thus we fabricated a 3D microfluidic chip which integrates the concentration gradient design and perfusion system for proposed embryo coculture with stromal cells.
Womb-on-a-chip biomimetic system for improved embryo culture and development
(2016-04-01)
Chang, Kuo-Wei
;
Chang, Pei-Yu
;
Huang, Hong-Yuan
;
Li, Chin-Jung
;
Tien, Chang-Hung
The 3D biomimetic microsystem described in this research integrates various functions of the fallopian tube to serve as an in vitro platform for fertilization and embryonic development. This device mimics the in vivo embryo-endometrial stromal cell monolayer coculture to enhance the group culture of embryos and mechanically culture the embryos in a dynamic manner to enhance their development. The microdevice presented here is compared with static culture for embryonic development rate in the presence and absence of epithelial cells. The results suggest that the dynamic biomimetic microsystem enhances the rate of embryo development, providing a culture environment that closely mimics the in vivo microenvironment. This all-in-one biomimetic microsystem has the potential to replace the present embryo culture platforms used for assisting in vitro fertilization. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.