Microfabricated silicon biosensors for microphysiometry

Microphysiometers are biosensor devices that measure the metabolic rate of living cells by detecting the rate of extracellular acidification caused by a small number of cells. The cells are entrapped in a microvolume chamber, whose bottom surface is a silicon sensor chip. In a further miniaturization step, we have recently fabricated multichannel flow-through chips that will allow greater throughput and multiplicity. Microphysiometer technology can be applied to the detection of microorganisms. We describe the sensitive detection of bacteria and yeast. Further applications of microphysiometry to the characterization of microorganisms can be anticipated.