To date, there are more than 80 publications by our customers using AIM Biotech devices. Over 60 publications have also been made by the scientific founders of AIM Biotech and their collaborators using non-commercial versions of the technology. Publications by AIM Biotech customers using the commercial chips have been accepted into prestigious journals like Nature Medicine, Cell, Cancer Cell etc. The full list of publications is available here. Their studies encompass immuno-oncology (immune checkpoint & T cell therapy), blood-brain barrier, angiogenesis, transendothelial migration, cancer aggregate dispersion, cancer cell migration, extravasation, intravasation, neurite guidance, stem cell differentiation, etc. AIM Biotech idenTx Chips/Plates are open platforms for you to test new ideas and to develop interesting applications. The idenTx family of chips & plates feature 1 gel channel flanked by 2 media channels. In the near future, AIM will be releasing chips with different channel configurations that will enable new experimental designs.

Any polymerizable hydrogel that suits your application can be used, e.g. various types of collagen, fibrin, etc. The hydrogels may be used on their own or in combination with other components like laminin, Matrigel, etc. However, do note that hydrogel quality may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. There may also be batch-to-batch variations.

You should coat AIM Biotech idenTx Chips/Plates with the extracellular matrix proteins that best suit your cells. For example, AIM chips are surface-coated with fibronectin before endothelial cells are seeded into the media channel. It is not necessary to coat the media channels if cells are only seeded in the hydrogel.

The optimal cell density depends on your specific application and the design of your experiment. For example, an idenTx 3 chip (with 3 microfluidic sites per chip) will need approximately 30,000 endothelial cells per site to generate a confluent endothelial monolayer overnight. By contrast, you will only need 3000 cells per site if you plan to seed the cells in the hydrogel to study cell migration. AIM chips are flexible platforms that can be adapted to various cell seeding densities; you may have to optimize your cells seeding strategies for your specific applications. Please visit the Applications-Specific Protocols section of this website for more information on specific applications.

Unlike standard 2D cell culture flasks, microfluidic devices use very small quantities of culture media. As such, you should change media daily to replenish the consumed media. We recommend that users attach a syringe pump to maintain a stable gradient or interstitial flow.

AIM chips can be connected to devices with luer interfaces through AIM Luer Connectors (LUC-1). The connectors attach directly into media channel ports to form a female luer lock interface, enabling users to connect male luer components such as:

• syringe barrels – to form media reservoirs, or to establish pressure gradients for interstitial flow across the gel channel
• syringe pumps via tubing and 3rd party male luer tubing connectors – to run dynamic cell culture experiments, to enable media exchange or to set up interstitial flow or chemical gradients across the gel channel
• future AIM accessories (to be announced)

Please use the included Inlet Seals to seal off the gel inlets. This will stop cell culture media from flowing through the porous gel and out through the gel inlets.

AIM Biotech idenTx Chips/Plates can be viewed under bright field, phase contrast, epi-fluorescence, 2-photon and confocal microscopy. The chips are also compatible with oil/water immersion techniques for high magnification imaging. However, do note that signals may become weaker when a high numerical aperture (NA) lens is used to image deeper regions of the chips due to scattering & spherical aberration.

You may pool the media in the media channels from multiple sites and detect analytes (typically proteins of interest) present in the media through the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or other assays. However, do note that the local concentration of a substance in the channel is usually higher than the concentration in the media that you collect from the ports.

Cells in the media channel can also be collected by trypsinization. Hydrogels can also be dissolved with the appropriate enzymes (e.g. trypsin for fibrin gels, collagenase for collagen gels) to release cells from within the gel. You can perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or other assays that utilize collected cells as an input. Do take into account the number of cells that can be collected from each channel for your experimental setup. You may need to adjust your collection strategy for assays that require more cells.

No, the AIM Biotech idenTx Chips/Plates are not designed to be reused. The sterility and functionality of the chips cannot be guaranteed if the chips are used again.

Yes, you can. However, you have to make sure the chips are elevated so that gas exchange can take place through the laminated underside. The microtiter plate holder is designed to ensure the air circulation is not obstructed on the laminated underside. The holder also helps to reduce the evaporation loss of media from the chips.

AIM products are sold under a ‘Research Use Only’ end user license agreement. If you wish to use AIM products for commercial purposes (such as contract research services, screening services, etc.), please contact us at sales@aimbiotech.com for pricing information.

AIM products have not been approved for use in clinical diagnostics. We will be developing products for clinical diagnostics in the future. Stay tuned!