Introduction

Abstract

Microfluidics is a quite mature technology, but its medical applications for disease diagnosis and personal therapy studies are still insufficient. The usage of the microsystems for such applications should be supported by elaboration of new diagnostic methods/models because the currently applied ones exhibit many drawbacks. An application of the microanalytical devices for this purpose seems to be a promising approach and solution to all mentioned problems, and it can increase the experimental throughput. Organ-on-a-chip systems are used to investigate cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions as well as to perform cytotoxicity assays of various drugs. Lab-on-a-Chip systems for mimicking of organs such as: liver, skin, lung, kidneys, or breast are presented in the literature. The Heart-on-a-chip systems used to simulate the vascular system and heart tissue functions are also fabricated. They play an increasingly important role in biomedical sciences.