title: Hydrogel-based microfluidic incubator for microorganism cultivation and analyses.
abstract: This work presents an array of microfluidic chambers for on-chip culturing of microorganisms in static and continuous shear-free operation modes. The unique design comprises an in-situ polymerized hydrogel that forms gas and reagent permeable culture wells in a glass chip. Utilizing a hydrophilic substrate increases usability by autonomous capillary priming. The thin gel barrier enables efficient oxygen supply and facilitates on-chip analysis by chemical access through the gel without introducing a disturbing flow to the culture. Trapping the suspended microorganisms inside a gel well allows for a much simpler fabrication than in conventional trapping devices as the minimal feature size does not depend on cell size. Nutrients and drugs are provided on-chip in the gel for a self-contained and user-friendly handling. Rapid antibiotic testing in static cultures with strains of Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli is presented. Cell seeding and diffusive medium supply is provided by phaseguide technology, enabling simple operation of continuous culturing with a great flexibility. Cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are utilized as a model to demonstrate continuous on-chip culturing.
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6968-930X
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Puchberger-Enengl
authors.affiliation: Institute for Microsensors, -actuators and -systems (IMSAS), MCB, University of Bremen , 28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Sander
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van den Driesche
authors.affiliation: Austrian Center for Medical Innovation and Technology (ACMIT) , 2700 Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Krutzler
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sensor and Actuator Systems (ISAS), Vienna University of Technology , 1040 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Keplinger
authors.affiliation: Institute for Microsensors, -actuators and -systems (IMSAS), MCB, University of Bremen , 28359 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Vellekoop