Seamless integration of CMOS microsensors into open microfluidic systems

As traditional two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures offer limited predictive capabilities for drug development, three-dimensional (3D) tissue models, such as spherical microtissues, have been introduced to better reproduce physiological conditions. The hanging-drop method, used to cultivate microtissues at an air-liquid interface, proves to be effective for microtissue formation and maintenance. Using that technology, it is possible to fluidically interconnect several hanging drops hosting different models of human organs to recapitulate relevant tissue interactions. Here, we combine microfluidics with microelectronics (i.e., complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology) and present a novel multifunctional CMOS microelectrode array (MEA) integrated into an open microfluidic system. The device can be used in hanging-drop mode for in situ microtissue readouts and in standing-drop mode like a conventional MEA. The CMOS-MEA chip features two reconfigurable electrode arrays with 1024 electrodes each, and enables electrophysiology, impedance spectroscopy, and electrochemical sensing to acquire a broad spectrum of biologically relevant information. We fabricated the chip using a 0.18 μm CMOS process and developed a strategy to integrate the CMOS-MEA chip into the open microfluidic system within a larger overall effort to incorporate discrete CMOS sensors into microfluidic devices. Proof-of-concept experiments demonstrate the capability to perform electrophysiology and impedance spectroscopy of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived cardiac microtissues, as well as electrochemical sensing of different analytes including hydrogen peroxide and epinephrine.