Amperometric determination of nitric oxide derived from pulmonary artery endothelial cells immobilized in a microchip channel.

A simple method for immobilizing a confluent layer of bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (bPAECs) in microchip-based channels is described. The microchips are prepared from poly(dimethylsiloxane) and have channel dimensions that approximate resistance vessels in vivo. The reversibly sealed channels were coated with fibronectin (100 microg ml(-1)) by aspiration.

Fabrication of carbon microelectrodes with a micromolding technique and their use in microchip-based flow analyses.

In this paper, we report a new technique to pattern carbon microelectrodes for use in microfluidics. This technique, termed micromolding of carbon inks, uses poly(dimethylsiloxane)(PDMS) microchannels to define the size of the microelectrode. First, PDMS microchannels of the approximate dimensions desired for the microelectrode are made by soft lithography.

Determination of erythrocyte deformability and its correlation to cellular ATP release using microbore tubing with diameters that approximate resistance vessels in vivo.

A novel method is described for measuring the deformability of red blood cells (RBCs) in tubing whose diameters approximate forces encountered in vivo. Here, RBCs from rabbits are loaded into a 50 cm section of 75 microm id microbore tubing and connected to a syringe pump. This section of tubing is then connected to a 15 cm section of 25 microm id tubing.