Fig. 1.

Concept and design of a novel microfluidic platform with three interconnected culture chambers. (a) Schematic representation of the microfluidic platform and (b) photograph of an assembled microfluidic colored with food dyes. (c) Exploded view of the three components of the microfluidic platform. (d) Top (left) and side (right) view of the microfluidic platform. (e) Schematic view of a functioning valve. When pressure is applied in the valve channel, the flexible PDMS membrane occludes the diffusion channel, blocking the communication between compartments. (f) Valve segment z-projection of an open valve (left) or closed valve (right) after applying a 600 ​mbar pressure on the valve channel. The microfluidic compartments were filled with toluidine blue dye and a 250 ​μm stack was obtained on a confocal microscope. An XZ orthogonal view is also shown below each respective image (corresponding to the dashed line). Scale bar 200 ​μm.