CRAFT 2.0: Unity Health Toronto Joins Center for Research in Microfluidic Devices for Human Health

“CRAFT was founded out of a shared vision that microfluidics could have a real impact on the scientific and clinical fields of Canada,” says Dr. Theodore Veres, Director of R&D at the NRC Center for Medical Device Research and Co-Director of CRAFT.

“These advances, aimed at empowering a new generation of students to implement new scientific and technological advances in microfluidic devices, have the potential to revolutionize disease diagnosis and treatment in Canada and around the world.” This approach has been critical to the growth of our initiative and our current success.”

Microfluidic technology enables the manipulation of fluids in micron-scale, thousandth-of-a-millimeter engineering miniaturized devices. The ability to precisely control liquids on this scale has many important applications in engineering, medicine, biology, and chemistry.

Microfluidic applications include rapid diagnostic devices that help clinicians reliably test for certain diseases at the patient's bedside, while avoiding the costs and time delays associated with sending samples to large testing laboratories. Microfluidics are also used in biosensors that allow patients in remote communities to send accurate data to specialists hundreds of kilometers away.

As an example, Dr. Claudia dos Santos, a critical care physician and scientist at Unity Health, noted the need to rapidly identify ICU patients at risk for sepsis. He is working with CRAFT researchers to develop a microfluidic device that can detect biomarkers of sepsis on the ICU floor. Such a tool allows for faster diagnosis and treatment of sepsis, which, if left untreated, can lead to death.

“By officially joining Unity Health Toronto CRAFT, we are bringing the power and potential of microfluidic devices into clinical settings. This partnership allows clinicians to combine their expertise with CRAFT scientists and take the next important steps toward transforming patient care,” says dos Santos.

Another application of microfluidics—known as an organ-on-a-chip—allows cells, tissues, or even parts of working organs to be grown outside the body in microfluidic devices. These biological models can be used in high-throughput screening of large libraries of potential therapeutic molecules for specific functions; for example, to determine which of them will be effective against a certain type of cancer. Such screens can even provide ideal treatments for an individual patient, opening the door to precision medicine.

CRAFT was founded in 2018 and includes three research and development facilities for microfluidic devices: a tissue casting plant for bioprinting and preclinical device validation; a device foundry for the design, prototyping, and small-scale fabrication of microfluidic devices; and the NRC Device Fabrication and Scaling Facility. The first two are located at U of T and can be used by academics, students, industry and government. The latter is located on the NRC campus in Boucherville, Quebec.

In 2023, these facilities had 125 unique users from U of T as well as affiliated hospitals, including Sunnybrook, SickKids, University Health Network. Since its inception, CRAFT has engaged 44 researchers and 114 trainees in a wide range of projects that have resulted in 69 peer-reviewed publications, 22 patent applications and three spin-off companies.

“CRAFT has been a team effort all along. In addition to the NRC, we were supported as an Institutional Strategic Initiative by T's Vice President's Office of Research and Innovation and T's Faculties of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Medicine, and Pharmacy. We all look forward to the exciting next chapter of our partnership with Unity Health,” says U of T mechanical engineering professor and CRAFT co-director Axel Guenther.

“Developing the next generation of Canadian-made microfluidic technologies and bringing them to the people who need them most — patients, healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical companies — requires a strong partnership with our clinical partners, U of T, within and beyond CRAFT. entrepreneurial ecosystem and Canadian industry. We invite everyone to visit and use our open research facilities in Toronto, attend our Microfluidics Professional Course on July 17-19, or attend our Research Symposium in Boucherville on October 12, 2024.