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CURF Home>>Technology Showcase >>Stabilizing Multi-Well Plate Insert for Biomaterial Testing

Stabilizing Multi-Well Plate Insert for Biomaterial Testing Clemson University is seeking companies interested in the commercialization of a novel cell culture device used to facilitate the evaluation of materials via controlled and intimate cell-material contact.

The need to understand the effect of intimate contact between a given material and mammalian cells or bacteria is important for applications such as tissue engineering, evaluations of biocompatibility or toxicity, cell adhesion studies, and testing of anti-microbial activity. Assessment of this interaction is required by government agencies (for example, the FDA) before materials can be used commercially for applications ranging from medical devices to food packaging.

Existing methods, however, often fall short of meeting the challenges associated with rapid advances in materials science, for example the capacity to accommodate a wide variety of materials and produce relevant, quantitative experimental data. Click here for a discussion of existing approaches and their drawbacks.

Our goal, is therefore to institute and provide support for a standardized method for the culture of cells on materials (also known as direct contact cell culture), and by doing so,

• Enable precise control of the cell-material contact and interaction
• Eliminate confounding experimental variables and simplify direct contact cell culture procedures
• Increase the scientific value and experimental repeatability of the measured cell responses to the material being tested
• Allow intra- and inter- laboratory comparisons of a wide variety of materials
• Expand the scope and usefulness of in vitro direct contact cell culture methods and by doing so reduce or replace currently necessary in vivo testing

The solution has been the development of an insert which positions and stabilizes material samples within commercially available multi-well plates for the study of cell-material interactions. The insert is similar in nature to other commonly used sterile, disposable, polystyrene cell culture items and can be used in conjunction with standard in vitro equipment and procedures. The precise control of cellular contact with the material being tested enables standardized, repeatable, quantitative analysis of cell-material interactions. This level of control and the value of the data produced exceed that which is attainable using current methods, and widespread use of the technology may lead to the reduction or replacement of animal testing procedures. Because of its versatility, it is well suited for positioning as an industry standard for this type of materials testing. Click here for a more detailed discussion about the advantages of this approach.

Applications for this technology will span the various experimental, diagnostic and therapeutic purposes of culturing cells, including testing of:

• toxicity
• biocompatibility
• tissue engineering scaffolds for tissue and organ regeneration
• in vitro assessment of drug delivery
• cell adhesion
• effect of surface treatment

A patent application has been filed on this technology. For more information on the Multi-well plate insert you can download please contact:

Matt Gevaert, Ph.D.
Business Development Manager
Clemson University Research Foundation
223 Brackett Hall
Clemson, SC 29634-5705
Phone (864) 656-1140
Fax (864) 656-0474
e-mail: mrg@clemson.edu