BioLabs-on-a-chip: Monitoring cells using CMOS biosensors

Cell clinics, CMOS/MEMS hybrid microsystems for capturing and in-situ investigation of living cells, aims at providing high-speed, automated, and economical cell monitoring. Integrated sensors are being developed for extracellular signal amplification, cell-substrate capacitance sensing, contact imaging, and fluorescence detection. We describe the methodology for characterizing the responses of these sensors to biological cells. We also present results obtained from the long-term monitoring of cells cultured on-chip using two of the sensors: (i) a bio-amplifier, used for amplifying weak extracellular potentials from electrically active cells, and (ii) a cell-substrate capacitance sensor, used for tracking cell adhesion and assessing cell viability.