Abstract
A new type of cell-cultivation system based on photo-thermal etching has been developed for the on-chip cultivation of living cells using an agarose microchamber array. The method can be used to flexibly change the chamber structure by photo-thermal etching, even during the cultivation of cells, depending upon the progress in cell growth. We used an infrared (1064 nm) focused laser beam as a heat source to melt and remove agar gel at the heated spot on a thin chromium layer. The melting of the agar occurred just near the chromium thin layer, and the size of the photo-thermally etched area depended almost linearly on the power of the irradiated laser beam from 2 μm to 50 μm. Thus by using photo-thermal etching with adequate laser power we could easily fabricate narrow tunnel-shaped channels between the microchambers at the bottom of the agar-layer even during cell cultivation. After 48 h of cultivation of nerve cells, the nerve cells in two adjacent chambers made fiber connections through the fabricated narrow tunnel-shaped channels. These results suggest that photo-thermal etching occurred only in the area where an absorbing material was used, which means that it is possible to photo-thermally etch lines without damaging the cells in the microchambers. The results also suggest that the agar-microchamber cell cultivation system in combination with photo-thermal etching can potentially be used for the next stage of single cell cultivation including the real-time control of the interaction of cells during cell cultivation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 125-130 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry and Biology |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2002 May 1 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Biochemistry
Cite this
An agar-microchamber cell-cultivation system : Flexible change of microchamber shapes during cultivation by photo-thermal etching. / Moriguchi, Hiroyuki; Wakamoto, Yuichi; Sugio, Yoshihiro; Takahashi, Kazunori; Inoue, Ippei; Yasuda, Kenji.
In: Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry and Biology, Vol. 2, No. 2, 01.05.2002, p. 125-130.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - An agar-microchamber cell-cultivation system
T2 - Flexible change of microchamber shapes during cultivation by photo-thermal etching
AU - Moriguchi, Hiroyuki
AU - Wakamoto, Yuichi
AU - Sugio, Yoshihiro
AU - Takahashi, Kazunori
AU - Inoue, Ippei
AU - Yasuda, Kenji
PY - 2002/5/1
Y1 - 2002/5/1
N2 - A new type of cell-cultivation system based on photo-thermal etching has been developed for the on-chip cultivation of living cells using an agarose microchamber array. The method can be used to flexibly change the chamber structure by photo-thermal etching, even during the cultivation of cells, depending upon the progress in cell growth. We used an infrared (1064 nm) focused laser beam as a heat source to melt and remove agar gel at the heated spot on a thin chromium layer. The melting of the agar occurred just near the chromium thin layer, and the size of the photo-thermally etched area depended almost linearly on the power of the irradiated laser beam from 2 μm to 50 μm. Thus by using photo-thermal etching with adequate laser power we could easily fabricate narrow tunnel-shaped channels between the microchambers at the bottom of the agar-layer even during cell cultivation. After 48 h of cultivation of nerve cells, the nerve cells in two adjacent chambers made fiber connections through the fabricated narrow tunnel-shaped channels. These results suggest that photo-thermal etching occurred only in the area where an absorbing material was used, which means that it is possible to photo-thermally etch lines without damaging the cells in the microchambers. The results also suggest that the agar-microchamber cell cultivation system in combination with photo-thermal etching can potentially be used for the next stage of single cell cultivation including the real-time control of the interaction of cells during cell cultivation.
AB - A new type of cell-cultivation system based on photo-thermal etching has been developed for the on-chip cultivation of living cells using an agarose microchamber array. The method can be used to flexibly change the chamber structure by photo-thermal etching, even during the cultivation of cells, depending upon the progress in cell growth. We used an infrared (1064 nm) focused laser beam as a heat source to melt and remove agar gel at the heated spot on a thin chromium layer. The melting of the agar occurred just near the chromium thin layer, and the size of the photo-thermally etched area depended almost linearly on the power of the irradiated laser beam from 2 μm to 50 μm. Thus by using photo-thermal etching with adequate laser power we could easily fabricate narrow tunnel-shaped channels between the microchambers at the bottom of the agar-layer even during cell cultivation. After 48 h of cultivation of nerve cells, the nerve cells in two adjacent chambers made fiber connections through the fabricated narrow tunnel-shaped channels. These results suggest that photo-thermal etching occurred only in the area where an absorbing material was used, which means that it is possible to photo-thermally etch lines without damaging the cells in the microchambers. The results also suggest that the agar-microchamber cell cultivation system in combination with photo-thermal etching can potentially be used for the next stage of single cell cultivation including the real-time control of the interaction of cells during cell cultivation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0141955154&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0141955154&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1039/b202569h
DO - 10.1039/b202569h
M3 - Article
C2 - 15100846
AN - SCOPUS:0141955154
VL - 2
SP - 125
EP - 130
JO - Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry and Biology
JF - Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry and Biology
SN - 1473-0197
IS - 2
ER -