• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.533-538
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• 2012

In this study, we used an $O_2$-sensitive luminescent dye to measure the $O_2$ concentration of culture media around HeLa cells cultured in a microchannel. $[Ru(bpy)_3]^{2+}$, which dissolves easily in water and which has no phototoxic effect, was used as the $O_2$-sensitive dye. The ratiometric sensing method was applied by introducing calcein as the $O_2$-insensitive dye, in order to overcome the disadvantages of intensity-based sensing. By performing calibration with an amperometric $O_2$ sensor, we could calculate the exact concentration of $O_2$ in the culture media. We applied this technique to measure the $O_2$ concentration around the cultured cells in the microchannel. As expected, the $O_2$ concentration gradually decreased as the cells moved farther away from the channel. This method is expected to be applicable to the investigation of hypoxia, which occurs commonly in scaffolds.