The Bio-Oscillator: A Circuit for Cell-Culture Assays

A system for cell-culture real-time monitoring using an oscillation-based approach is proposed. The system transforms a cell culture under test into a suitable “biological” oscillator, without needing complex circuitry for excitation and measurement. The obtained oscillation parameters are directly related to biological test, owed to an empirically extracted cell–electrode electrical model. A discrete prototype is proposed and experimental results with living cell culture are presented, achieving the expected performances.