Non-contact measurement of oxygen consumption rate of single oocyte using fluorescence sensor

Evaluation of oocyte and embryo has become important for many biomedical applications. We developed measurement of oxygen consumption rate of individual oocyte using fluorescence oxygen sensor having stripe-shape on a microfluidic chip. The fluorescence sensor was made of the mixture of polyethylene glycol diacrylate and Tris (2,2´-bipyridyl) dichloro ruthenium (II) hexahydrate (Ru(bpy)₃Cl₂). The sensor was patterned to stripe-shape in the polydimethylsiloxane using photofabrication. Oxygen concentration around the oocyte was distributed according to spherical diffusion theory because of similar oxygen permeability of polydimethylsiloxane and that of medium. This sensor can measures two-dimensional distribution of oxygen consumption ratio of the oocyte by image processing. We demonstrated non-contact measurement of oxygen consumption ratio of single oocyte on a microfluidic chip (0.59 ± 0.03 fmol/s).