Brain Slice on a Chip

Cover illustration for Prof. Andreas Vlachos (University of Freiburg), created for the journal Lab on a Chip (Royal Society of Chemistry, Volume 26, Issue 17).

The paper reviews brain-slice-on-chip platforms: microfluidic devices that keep living brain tissue alive for weeks outside the body. Unlike cell cultures, an intact tissue slice preserves the original architecture and connectivity of the brain. The slice rests on a porous membrane at an air–liquid interface — nutrient medium flows continuously beneath it while the upper surface stays exposed to air — and a dense electrode array on top records the electrical activity of the surviving neural circuits.

Paper: Maduna et al., Lab Chip, 2026, 26, 4624–4638.