Investigation of the Extracellular Matrix Effect for the QCM/CCD Cell Activity Monitoring System.

A real-time quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) cell activity monitoring system coupled with micro CCD cameras was developed to investigate the cultured cell activity, which could measure the viscoelastic characteristics of the cell with the QCM and observe the cell morphology changes with CCD camera simultaneously. Both the viscoelastic characteristics and the shape of the cultured cell are important factors to estimate the cell activity and the cell adhesion. The extracellular matrix (ECM) on the surface of the QCM is essential to culture the cell stably in the QCM monitoring system.

Fabrication of a polymer-metal combined atomic force microscopy probe for coarse food surface imaging.

We fabricated a polymer-metal combined atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe by two steps; a polymeric resin was used at first step, and a metal-ion was used at second step which needs more fabricating time than the resin. At first step, we fabricated a cylindrical base on to a commercial cantilever. At second step, we fabricated a conical probe on to the fabricated cylindrical base.

Observation of interaction force in large area between actin modified surface and actin antibody modified microsphere probe.

In order to observe the force interaction in large areas, a novel force detection probe was fabricated by two-photon absorbed photopolymerization (TPAP) techniques. The probe was based on a commercial cantilever, and a docking structure for adopting a microsphere immobilized with actin antibody was fabricated by the TPAP techniques. The commercial AFM tip was also modified with the antibody for comparison.

Optical and electrical properties of merocyanine dye LB films by various time of UV irradiation and heat treatment.

The Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique provides many possibilities for the control of film thickness, dimensions, and molecular structures on the nanometer scale. Various kinds of dye molecules have been found to form the J-aggregation which has been used as sensitizers of silver halide photography for long time. In recent years, they attract attention as model systems for investigating the ultra-fast exciton dynamics, materials for ultra-fast nonlinear optical devices, fluorescence probes for mitochondrial membranes.

Influence of diquat on growth and death of HepG2 cells using quartz crystal and micro CCD camera.

Diquat is widely used agent which produces toxicity in human and implicated as an environmental toxicity. HepG2 cell was cultured onto an indium tin oxide (ITO) surface of quartz crystal modified a collagen film. In this paper, we investigated the physical properties and the morphological change of the HepG2 cells cultured onto the ITO electrode of the quartz crystal sensor with micro CCD camera.

Monitoring of anticancer effect of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil on HepG2 cells by quartz crystal microbalance and micro CCD camera.

We have developed a monitoring system for evaluating the effect of anticancer agents, such as cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The system mainly consisted of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) with indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes and a micro CCD camera that can function in a humid CO(2) incubator. Human hepatoma cell line HepG2 cells were cultured and treated with the anticancer agents.

Monitoring of cultured cell activity by the quartz crystal and the micro CCD camera under chemical stressors.

For investigating effects of chemical stressors to cultured cells, we have developed a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) system with a micro CCD camera that enables microscopic observations simultaneously with the QCM measurements. Human hepatoma cell line (HepG2) cells were cultured on the collagen coated quartz crystal which has indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes that enable transmission imaging of the cultured cells by the micro CCD camera during the QCM measurements. Glutaraldehyde (GA) and t-butylhydroperoxide (t-BHP) were used for the chemical stressors.

Monitoring of morphology and physical properties of cultured cells using a micro camera and a quartz crystal with transparent indium tin oxide electrodes after injections of glutaraldehyde and trypsin.

For investigating the effects of chemical stimulation to cultured cells, we have developed a quartz crystal sensor system with a micro charge-coupled device (CCD) camera that enables microphotograph imaging simultaneously with quartz crystal measurement. Human hepatoma cell line (HepG2) cells were cultured on the quartz crystal through a collagen film. The electrode of the quartz crystal was made of indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent electrodes that enable to obtain a transparent mode photograph.