Bioelectronics-powered meso-scale organ-on-a-chip to model neuromuscular disease
Official title: Establishing a bioelectronics-integrated mesoscale organ-on-a-chip for neuromuscular disease modeling
Funded at Massachusetts Institute of Technology · NIH-11449616 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A new device will mimic how nerves and muscles work together, using soft electronics to stimulate and monitor multiple motor units to help understand and treat nerve injuries.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cambridge, United States) |
| Project start | August 19, 2026 |
| Project end | June 30, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $619,189 |
| NIH project number | 1R01NS146371-01A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11449616 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are individuals with neuromuscular conditions or athletes and patients recovering from peripheral nerve injuries who may ultimately benefit from advances in therapies developed using this platform.
✕Less likely to help
Patients without neuromuscular conditions or nerve injuries in the near term may not directly benefit from this platform.
What this research studies
This project will create a mesoscale limb-on-a-chip that lets researchers watch and control several motor units at once while still being able to study individual units in detail. It combines soft bioelectronic interfaces with an organ-on-a-chip platform to deliver precise muscle stimulation and record responses. The goal is to model traumatic nerve injury and test therapies that could improve mobility, with safety comparisons to traditional stiff electrodes in living tissue. The work progresses from validating the platform’s accuracy to applying it to disease-relevant scenarios. If successful, it could provide a more accurate, controllable model for neuromuscular diseases and guide new treatments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: This research could lead to better models for neuromuscular diseases and inform therapies that improve movement after nerve injuries.
How similar studies have gone: Previous organ-on-a-chip approaches lack macroscale multi-unit coordination and precise single-unit control, making this mesoscopic platform a novel step forward.
Where this research is happening
-
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Raman, Ritu — Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Study coordinator: Raman, Ritu
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.