Sensing scaffolds to monitor cellular activity using impedance measurements.

Biosens Bioelectron

Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca E. Piaggio, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.

Published: March 2011

AI Article Synopsis

  • Scaffolds serve as cell adhesive matrices in tissue engineering, and this text discusses their potential use as sensors to monitor cellular activities like adhesion and spreading.
  • Carbon nanotube polymer composites were created into membranes and scaffolds, allowing for the measurement of electrical impedance to analyze the impact of cell cultures on these materials.
  • Results indicate that protein adhesion shows smaller impedance changes compared to cell adhesion, which can see changes around 40%, correlating with factors such as adhesion, spreading, and cell density.

Article Abstract

Scaffolds are cell adhesive matrices for the realisation of tissue constructs. Here we describe how scaffolds for tissue engineering can also be used as sensors for monitoring cellular activity such as adhesion and spreading. Carbon nanotube polymer composites were fabricated into membranes and scaffolds with electro-conductive properties. Impedance techniques were used to measure the effects of media and cell cultures on composite membranes and the results were analysed using lumped parameter models. We show that protein adhesion can be distinguished from cell adhesion as the impedance changes are much smaller for the latter (5%). In the presence of cells, impedance changes are of the order of 40% and can be correlated with adhesion, spreading and changes in cell density.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2011.01.002DOI Listing

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