Spatiotemporal instrumentation of in vitro tissues: Toward understanding human disease

Advances in tissue engineering provide unique opportunities for disease modeling and therapeutic discovery. Over the past decade, the discovery of human induced pluripotent stem cells and a growing understanding of fundamental developmental physiology have led to more physiologically relevant in vitro models. In particular, biomaterial engineering and biomanufacturing approaches have enabled in vitro tissue models that recapitulate the critical spatiotemporal function of the native tissue organ. However, monitoring their dynamic cellular and molecular changes remains a challenge, as conventional imaging or endpoint assays provide a limitation in real-time, spatially resolved data acquisition. Therefore, there is a need for advanced techniques that can fill the gap of missing spatiotemporal information critical for understanding the nature of disease physiology. In this perspective, we outline our opinion on the progress that is necessary in biomaterials, bioelectronic interfaces, backend electronics, and data management to achieve high-resolution spatiotemporal interaction between human tissue and devices at scale.