Nanofiber membrane insert mimicking tissue barriers in vitro
This technology creates precisely engineered nanofiber membranes that replicate the thin tissue barriers found inside the human body, such as the lining of blood vessels or the gut wall. The membranes are built from stacked layers of nanofibers arranged at controlled angles and spacing, then chemically bonded together to form a stable, porous structure. These membranes sit inside microfluidic chips or standard lab well plates, allowing researchers to grow cells on a surface that behaves more like real tissue than a flat plastic dish. The result is an in vitro test platform that more accurately mimics how drugs, pathogens, or nutrients cross biological barriers in a living organism.
What you could build
A drop-in replacement membrane insert for transwell plates and organ-on-a-chip microfluidic devices, sold to pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations, and academic drug discovery labs that need more physiologically accurate barrier models for ADME and toxicity screening.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia-based CROs, the biomedical research programs at UVA and VCU, and defense-adjacent biodefense research groups at USAMRIID or DARPA contractors would be natural early adopters or partners.
Readiness: Prototype likely
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Philip Graybill, Rafael Davalos, Aniket Jana, Amrinder Nain
- Filed
- Patent pending — filed December 22, 2023
- Status
- Application
- Publication number
- US20240318111A1
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.