Monitoring capillary endothelial cell culture and capillary formation in a microdevice by impedance spectroscopy measurements

Abstract

Capillary endothelial cells (ECs) were cultured on gold electrodes in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/glass microdevices. Our objective was to monitor the culture growth by electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements, and to observe whether the formation of capillary-like structures in the cell layer produces a change in the impedance spectra. In our contribution, we present a novel micro-device, which enables long-term cell culture and the monitoring of the cell layer properties. We illustrate the usefulness of EIS measurements in observing several culture conditions (confluence, cell detachment, cell death, capillary formation) by providing impedance measurement curves, as well as cell layer pictures of the culture area.