The primary epithelial cells are expanded as 3D organoids, dissociated, and cultured on a porous membrane within a microfluidic device with human
intestinal microvascular endothelium cultured in a parallel microchannel under flow and cyclic deformation.
The epithelium's maturation into a villus intestinal epithelium with long finger - like extensions was helped along by co-culturing human
intestinal microvascular endothelial cells on the opposite side of the shared matrix - coated porous membrane in the «vascular» channel where they assembled a surrogate blood vessel with a hollow lumen through which feeding medium was flowed.