Cell-based microfluidic biochip for the electrochemical real-time monitoring of glucose and oxygen

We report the fabrication of a microfluidic biochip dedicated to realize a precise and real-time monitoring of the composition and modulation of the cell medium by comparing the rates of glucose and oxygen before and after contact with the cells. The device was composed of specific glucose and oxygen amperometric sensors integrated at the inlet and outlet microchannels of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) cell chamber. The microfluidic device was designed to be compatible with cell cultures and the performances of the integrated sensors in the dynamic conditions of liquid flow during calibration were reported. We show here the compatibility of the developed biochip with cell culture analysis in the case of hepatocytes (HepG2) and put in evidence the good performances of the integrated microsensors in terms of linearity of response and sensitivity of detection during calibration.