A microfluidic optical platform for real-time monitoring of pH and oxygen in microfluidic bioreactors and organ-on-chip devices

Abstract

There is a growing interest to develop microfluidic bioreactors and organ-on-chip platforms with integrated sensors to monitor their physicochemical properties and to maintain a well-controlled microenvironment for cultured organoids. Conventional sensing devices cannot be easily integrated with microfluidic organ-on-chip systems with low-volume bioreactors for continual monitoring. This paper reports on the development of a multi-analyte optical sensing module for dynamic measurements of pH and dissolved oxygen levels in the culture medium. The sensing system was constructed using low-cost electro-optics including light-emitting diodes and silicon photodiodes. The sensing module includes an optically transparent window for measuring light intensity, and the module could be connected directly to a perfusion bioreactor without any specific modifications to the microfluidic device design. A compact, user-friendly, and low-cost electronic interface was developed to control the optical transducer and signal acquisition from photodiodes. The platform enabled convenient integration of the optical sensing module with a microfluidic bioreactor. Human dermal fibroblasts were cultivated in the bioreactor, and the values of pH and dissolved oxygen levels in the flowing culture medium were measured continuously for up to 3 days. Our integrated microfluidic system provides a new analytical platform with ease of fabrication and operation, which can be adapted for applications in various microfluidic cell culture and organ-on-chip devices.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2016
Source ID
10.1063/1.4955155

Entities

People

  • Adel Pourmand
  • Akhtar Nadhman
  • Ali Khademhosseini
  • Amir Sanati Nezhad
  • Eleanor Laukaitis
  • Fabio De Ferrari
  • John P. Ryan
  • Mahboubeh Nabavinia
  • Mehmet Remzi Dökmeci
  • Niema Binth Mohammad
  • Ramin Banan Sadeghian
  • Seyed Ali Mousavi Shaegh
  • Su Ryon Shin
  • Yu Shrike Zhang

Organizations

  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  • Harvard Medical School
  • Harvard University
  • International Islamic University Islamabad
  • King Abdulaziz University
  • Konkuk University
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
  • National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
  • National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
  • National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
  • Polytechnic University of Turin
  • Tabriz University of Technology
  • Tohoku University
  • University of Calgary
  • University of Toronto
  • Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Groundwater Contamination Remediation.
  • Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry
  • Optical Fiber Sensing and Electromagnetic Propagation.

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Biotechnology - Bioremediation
  • Directed Energy
  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems