Microelectrodes for the measurement of cellular metabolism

The study of metabolism of cellular cultures is of great interest. Although some papers reports the monitoring of parameters such as pH, potassium, dissolved oxygen and temperature in cellular cultures using different kind of sensors, no definitive solution has been found to get reproducible and feasible results. The advantage of using sensors fabricated with microelectronic technology is focused on their small size, rapid response and the possibility of having an integrated array of microelectrodes, which favors the measurement of small volumes and fast cell metabolism changes. In this work, the viability of using a multisensor platform of microelectrodes, such as potassium and pH ISFETs, amperometric microelectrodes for dissolved O2 and pseudo-reference microelectrodes for the study of metabolism of cellular cultures is described. Preliminary results of pH ISFETS’ response in neuronal cultures is reported.