A Microfluidic Oxygenator for Biological Cell Culture

In this paper, we report on the development of a microfluidic platform in which dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations can be dynamically adjusted for cell culture applications. The DO concentration in culture media flowing through enclosed microchannels is regulated by the diffusion through an elastromeric interface from an overhead gas channel, using an oxygen-sensitive dye embedded in the fluid channel as a sensor. Using a microchannel network functioning as an oxygen/nitrogen mixer, the growth characteristics of murine fibroblast cells (3T3) were analyzed as a function of eight discrete DO concentrations in culture media within a single device, ranging from anaerobic (0 ppm) to fully saturated (42 ppm).