Bubble Perfusion Brain Slice Culture with Single-Droplet Stimulus Delivery in a 3D Printed Microfluidic Device

Abstract Ex vivo tissue culture can model tissue physiology under well-controlled conditions and is especially promising for understanding the complex mechanisms of the brain. Three-dimensional (3D) printing has immense potential to accelerate microfluidic technology development, especially for ex vivo tissue culture devices where miniaturization is ultimately limited by the physical dimensions of tissue explants. Here we describe the development of a 3D printed microfluidic perfusion device for ex vivo brain slices that utilizes media droplets segmented by oxygen bubbles, a