title: Micro-tube mass production device for microbial culture.
abstract: This paper describes mass production system of micro-tubes for microbial culture in an open environment. Microbes are used in many fields, such as food, medicine, environmental and energy. We proposed a microbe culture system using hydrogel micro-tubes, which can protect the target microbes inside from competitive microbes outside of the tubes while allow oxygen and nutrition to diffuse through. The hydrogel micro-tubes can be produced by a microfluidic device, which can precisely control the flow and therefore, the tube geometry. For practical applications of the micro-tube-based microbial culture, one of the biggest challenges is the scale-up of the micro-tube-based culture system, or mass production of the tubes. We developed a fluidic system that can produce multiple micro-tubes in parallel. We characterized the mass-produced micro channels and verified the effectiveness of the system.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Higashi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miki
mesh_terms: D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D008829:Microbiology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055616:Microtechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate