3D Printed Modular Mini Cell Culture Platform for Continuous Monitoring of Living Cells in Lab-on-a-Chip Systems

Abstract

This work presents the design, fabrication, and validation of a modular, miniaturized cell culture platform manufactured by 3D laser sintering using polyamide (PA12). The platform integrates real-time control of the internal atmosphere and temperature, provides access for bright-field optical microscopy, and incorporates multimodal sensing capabilities, including gravimetric measurements based on surface acoustic wave sensors and possibility of electrical impedance monitoring. The system is designed to support and monitor the functionality of a wide range of microfluidic-based organ-on-chip and lab-on-chip devices.Integrated electronics enable automated and synchronized data acquisition across all sensing modalities, while the platform architecture facilitates operation with open microfluidic systems. The high level of functional integration consolidates multiple external instrumentation requirements into a single compact unit, significantly enhancing system autonomy, usability, and experimental reproducibility.The proposed platform demonstrates the feasibility of combining additive manufacturing with targeted post-processing and embedded sensing to realize compact cell culture platform. The ability to operate multiple lab-on-chip devices in parallel further improves statistical reliability of experimental results. Overall, the system provides a versatile tool for applications in cell culture studies, mechanobiology, and pharmacological research.