Pillar arrays as tunable interfacial barriers for microphysiological systems

Pillar arrays as tunable interfacial barriers for microphysiological systems | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Pillar arrays as tunable interfacial barriers for microphysiological systems Kevin Healy, Ishan Goswami, Yongdeok Kim, Gabriel Neiman, Brian Siemons, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5776581/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 20 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Engineering → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We report on the design and fabrication of a novel circular pillar array as an interfacial barrier for microfluidic microphysiological systems (MPS). Traditional barrier interfaces, such as porous membranes and microchannel arrays, present limitations due to inconsistent pore size, complex fabrication and device assembly, and lack of tunability using a scalable design. Our pillar array overcomes these limitations by providing precise control over pore size, porosity, and hydraulic resistance through simple modifications of pillar dimensions. Serving as an interface between microfluidic compartments, it facilitates cell aggregation for tissue formation and acts as a tunable diffusion barrier that mimics diffusion in vivo. We demonstrate the utility of barrier design to engineer physiologically relevant cardiac microtissues and a heterotypic model with vasculature within the device. Its tunable properties offer significant potential for drug screening/testing and disease modeling, enabling comparisons of drug permeability and cell migration in MPS tissue with or without vasculature. Full Text Additional Declarations Yes there is potential Competing Interest. K.E.H. and B.S. have a financial relationship with Organos Inc. The remaining authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files SV1.mp4 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 20 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Engineering → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5776581","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":400379373,"identity":"2f613708-1f32-48bc-95d8-33cd739b348f","order_by":0,"name":"Kevin Healy","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA70lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACCQYeIFnAIGfAwMAMYoCAARFaDBiMIVoMSNCSuIFoLZLtvQcf/DA4nL6dvfexwQcDm8QG9uZtEvi0SPOcSzbsMTicu7PnuHHiDIO0xAaeY2V4tchJ5JhJ8AC1bLiRxnwYyEhsAIng1SL/xvznH6DDDO4/Yz78x+B/YoP8G/xapCV4zJiBhicY3GBjTmYwOAC0hQe/FsmeHGNpGYN0w509acxATyUbt/GkFVvg0yJx/IzhxzcV1vLm7MeYJX5U2Mn2sx/eeAOfFihohrMc24hQDgJ1cJY9kTpGwSgYBaNgBAEAsFhFkydanxgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of California Berkeley","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kevin","middleName":"","lastName":"Healy","suffix":""},{"id":400379374,"identity":"589902cd-10d6-4974-961b-7689b3488c89","order_by":1,"name":"Ishan Goswami","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7097-7656","institution":"University of California Berkeley","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ishan","middleName":"","lastName":"Goswami","suffix":""},{"id":400379375,"identity":"87cf1a23-9472-4a4e-9c5e-0b48762dd07f","order_by":2,"name":"Yongdeok Kim","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yongdeok","middleName":"","lastName":"Kim","suffix":""},{"id":400379376,"identity":"2b1f9554-395c-4002-8b9e-33bde7556e1e","order_by":3,"name":"Gabriel Neiman","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gabriel","middleName":"","lastName":"Neiman","suffix":""},{"id":400379377,"identity":"5d6d682f-c7d7-4b64-94be-7e5670388324","order_by":4,"name":"Brian Siemons","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Brian","middleName":"","lastName":"Siemons","suffix":""},{"id":400379378,"identity":"15fd6329-c7cd-4c7c-8569-cd8ffb8fa7bd","order_by":5,"name":"Jazmin Velazquez","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jazmin","middleName":"","lastName":"Velazquez","suffix":""},{"id":400379379,"identity":"8b6e4734-165c-4d78-928e-c7fdef7f4910","order_by":6,"name":"Kerem Yazgan","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7036-182X","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kerem","middleName":"","lastName":"Yazgan","suffix":""},{"id":400379380,"identity":"b9df2404-5928-4876-806d-0ca5c60fcc0a","order_by":7,"name":"Tammy Ng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tammy","middleName":"","lastName":"Ng","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-06 22:35:33","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5776581/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5776581/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-025-00527-x","type":"published","date":"2025-11-20T05:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":96445939,"identity":"ed491521-a885-46f8-b133-5c3e37d02b6c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-21 08:06:54","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":1705139,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Goswami.CommEng.Manuscript.2025.01.06.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5776581/v1_covered_a054c4c6-0047-496c-9b33-8faeb9ce1de7.pdf"},{"id":73974712,"identity":"4183ae17-5bfb-4bf0-b8a6-598a3dbf1825","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-16 14:16:23","extension":"mp4","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":2410496,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SV1.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5776581/v1/f5f992e998a34ccae90b4d38.mp4"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cb\u003eYes\u003c/b\u003e there is potential Competing Interest.\nK.E.H. and B.S. have a financial relationship with Organos Inc. 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