'On-a-chip' device. Sourced from Getty Images.
Monash University scientists have developed a new (preclinical) method to distinguish between chronic pain subtypes, such as fibromyalgia and peripheral neuropathy.
Chronic pain is globally prevalent and incredibly challenging to treat. Furthermore, clinical strategies for chronic pain management rely heavily on self-reporting, which is naturally subjective and particularly problematic for non-verbal patients.
As such, new methods for detection of pain biomarkers are essential.
In this preclinical study, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) researchers, in collaboration with Flinders University, developed a minimally invasive approach termed "pain-on-a-chip" – a microfluidic device that uses live sensory nerves on a chip to help objectively diagnose chronic pain conditions.
The device does this by distinguishing cells that initiate the sensation of pain. These cells, known as 'nociceptors', are associated with a number of pain conditions, including chronic pain.
The research team used the nociceptor-based microfluidic biosensor, aka pain-on-a-chip, to differentiate between blood samples extracted from two different animal models of chronic pain – one focusing on fibromyalgia and the other on diabetic neuropathy.
Using their pain-on-a-chip method, the researchers were able to demonstrate the device's ability to objectively distinguish the response of the nociceptor cells towards the two chronic pain subtypes.
One of the study's lead authors, Professor Nicolas Voelcker from MIPS, said chronic pain is a global health issue that is poorly understood and challenging to treat.
"Improving pain classification and identifying new treatments requires new strategies that objectively recognise specific pain conditions and minimise subjectivity," Professor Voelcker said.
"Our pain-on-a-chip concept has the potential to provide a biosensor platform for a minimally invasive and objective analysis method to discriminate between chronic pain subtypes."
Co-lead author Associate Professor Nicholas Veldhuis, also from MIPS, said these findings could pave the way for the development of an entirely new tool to determine chronic pain states based on blood sampling.
"In recent years, biosensor technology has emerged as a promising method for rapid, affordable and direct detection of biomarkers in disease; however, the technology has not yet made it into a clinical setting. Our research builds on recent developments which we hope to continue evolving and, ultimately, deliver a device that will improve the lives of those living with chronic pain conditions," Associate Professor Veldhuis said.
Dr Dusan Matusica from the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, who was also a lead author, said he and the team are excited about what the pain-on-a-chip device could mean in the future.
"Chronic pain stemming from conditions such as fibromyalgia and neuropathy can be very isolating and extremely debilitating. Our research lays the foundation for the development of an objective discriminatory tool for the determination of chronic pain states based on blood sampling. Such a diagnostic tool set is currently missing in both preclinical and clinical applications," Dr Matusica said.
The full study, titled Pain-on-a-Chip: A microfluidic device for neuron differentiation and functional discrimination in animal models of chronic pain has been published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
Further author information can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956566325002751?via%3Dihub#sec1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2025.117401
