Researchers in the group of MIT Professor Kripa Varanasi, working with colleagues at MIT and Johns Hopkins University, have developed a handheld device that uses fluid flow to gently collect living cells from specific locations in tissue, according to a Sept. 24, 2026 MIT report on a study in the journal Device. The team reported targeted sampling of newly excised tissue and recovery of living cells for cultivation and testing.

The device holds a small microfluidic channel against tissue, forming a vacuum seal, and a syringe drives fluid through the channel to apply shear stress parallel to the surface, detaching cells. In tests on fresh human fallopian tube samples, the researchers reported that collected cells remained viable and grew in culture more readily than cells detached by conventional approaches, and that some were used to create organoids. The work focuses on ovarian cancer, much of which can originate in the fallopian tubes.

The researchers said the approach can be tuned to different cell types and described plans for early use on tissue already removed from the body, with future interest in sampling inside patients. The study was supported by the Break Through Cancer Foundation. The findings are preclinical and do not establish clinical benefit.