Measurement and analysis of Vibrio Fischeri cell-based microfluidic device for personal health monitoring

The cell-based microfluidic chip was designed and fabricated as a low-cost detector to continuously monitor toxicants in drinking water or human urine samples, which is expected to be an important component of a household health monitoring system in the future. The bioluminescent bacterium, Vibrio Fischeri, was selected to validate the function of device. Water samples and Vibrio fischeri cells were mixed and encapsulated into droplets in air flow, which can guarantee sufficient oxygen supply for cells in droplets. Preliminary tests were performed using copper ion (Cu²⁺) as the model toxicant. The droplet system was measured and analyzed at various flow rates in different observation chambers. Both deionized water and human urine samples were tested in the cell-based device. Interestingly, a strong relation between the R.L.U. (Relative Luminescence Units) in the observation chamber and the minute concentration of toxicant (Cu²⁺) was found using deionized water as solvent, whereas the relation was insignificant using human urine as solvent. This study showed the Vibrio fischeri cell-based device might be reliably employed as an early-warning system for the safety of drinking water. However, Vibrio fischeri is not competent to detect dangerous materials in a complex biofluid. With the replacement of cell sensors, the microfluidic device might be functional to analyze urine samples in theory.