Fig. 2: Microfluidic devices for liver toxicology using intact liver slices.

a–c A perfusion chamber for liver slice perfusion. a Cross-section schematic of the setup on the microscope stage. b Confocal images showing a comparison of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity in liver slices isolated from β-naphthoflavone (βNF)-treated and control rats. c A graph that compares the EROD activity in liver slices isolated from control (black squares) and βNF-treated rats (blue squares) in the perfusion cultures. Adapted with permission from ref. ⁵². d–f A microfluidic approach for in vitro assessment of inter-organ interactions in drug metabolism using intestinal and liver slices. d 3D schematic of the setup. e Cross-section schematic of the microfluidic device. f Histological evaluation of slices after 3 h of incubation in well plates (top), and in the microfluidic device (bottom). (Magnification: ×100). Adapted with permission from ref. ⁵⁶