Fig. 7

Schematic diagram depicting the components of the microfluidic platform developed in the GEMNS project (EuroNanoMed II program) by the Nanotoxicology group, University of Bergen, Norway. In this setup, custom-made on-chip reservoirs are directly attached to the chip inlets and the fluid is withdrawn continuously through the outlets using pulsatile-free syringe pumps. The on-chip reservoirs are automatically refilled with homogeneous nanoparticle dispersions every 30 min using a programmable pressure pump. To ensure dispersion homogeneity, the liquid reservoir of the pressure pump is kept under agitation using a magnetic stirrer with a stirring bar that does not interact with nanoparticles. The microfluidic device consists of four independent microfluidic chambers, each with a microelectrode array to evaluate the cytotoxicity via a cell-substrate impedance sensing. Impedance measurements were performed sequentially using an electrode switch and a potentiostat