A patent for TrophoWell, now a trademarked name, initially filed on March 30, 2020, was officially filed as patent number 11629325, by inventors Alexander Gumennik, Louis van der Elst, and Merve Gokce. The TrophoWell was first presented by Louis and Merve at the Cheng Wu Innovation Challenge in 2019 and was awarded first place with a prize of $10,000 to further the research. Read more on the topic on the FAMES Lab news and the Luddy School news.
TrophoWell is a versatile 3D Petri dish designed for various applications, including early-stage drug and chemical testing and personalized medical research through tissue engineering. It is cost-effective, scalable, and eliminates the need for animal testing, incorporating microfluidics technology for precise control over biochemical flow within an extracellular matrix. The device's core comprises a well with adjustable spacing between two glass capillaries for delivering different agents, all made from biocompatible dental resin. TrophoWell addresses interdisciplinary challenges by combining regenerative medicine, bioprinting, and microfluidics, allowing for realistic tissue growth and drug testing. With the support of advanced 3D printing resources, TrophoWell is user-friendly, easy to manufacture, portable, and disposable, offering a cost-effective solution for cell analysis and personalized medicine research, promoting equal accessibility to treatment.
