3D printed eye-on-a-chip used for disease modeling and drug testing

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (PA, USA) have used 3D printing to produce the latest eye-on-a-chip technology that includes a mechanical eyelid to simulate blinking. The mechanical eye was developed to test a novel drug developed to treat dry eye disease. Dry eye disease (DED) is particularly prevalent in people that spend extensive amounts of time staring at computer screens. It effects up to 14% of the world's population and is particularly challenging to treat with only two FDA approved drugs available. The main barrier preventing the production of new drugs is developing models to test the drugs on,...