Scalable manufacturing of microphysiological systems to extend the production volume

Abstract Microphysiological systems (MPS) have emerged as a valuable tool in preclinical drug testing. These systems are capable of simulating in vivo conditions and physiological functions within an ex vivo tissue culture setting, resulting in improved accuracy of the obtained data. However, the labscale manufacturing processes of MPS are associated with high manufacturing time and costs, and are thus unable to sustain high-throughput studies [1]. Thus, we have to rethink the design of MPS considering high-volume production technologies from the beginning on. In this study, we examined which design features can help to translate the production process of MPS from a small scale micro-milling process to high-volume injection moulding. Moreover we compared the manufacturing costs of both manufacturing processes to figure out the right time to switch to injection moulding. To compare both manufacturing processes, we designed a tissue culture MPS by using common design features that fit to both manufacturing processes and compared design features that have to be changed, when transitioning from micro-milling to injection moulding. The break-even point was investigated using public pricing tools suggesting, that injection moulding has considerable potential in enhancing the scalability of MPS production starting from a production volume of 200 units. This could help further projects reducing manufacturing costs and time and foster the early switch to injection moulding, thus yielding in an enhanced accessibility of new MPS concepts.