A non-invasive and high precision sensor for in-situ temperature monitoring of cells

Abstract Energy transformation, which can be described as temperature variations, is present in all activities of cellular metabolism. Detecting the temperature of numerous cells over the course of their lives is useful for studying the cellular physiological function and investigating the pathophysiology of illnesses. Current cell thermometric technologies, such as luminous temperature sensors, infrared thermometers, and thermocouple thermometers, have their own limitations, such as complicated operation, low repeatability, and inability to measure cell temperature in normal situations. Here, we have developed a high-precision platinum temperature sensor with small heat capacity, good heat conduction, excellent stability and biological compatibility, which made it possible to sense cells heat signal. The platinum resistance sensor’s temperature coefficient of resistance was around 2800 ppm °C −1 , with a good linear correlation ( R 2 > 0.999) between resistance and temperature from 35 °C to 43 °C. The noise of the sensor system was below 0.02 °C, giving a small and stability noise in detection. The detecting cells were CHO-K1 cells. They caused a temperature increase of about 0.075 °C, which is higher than the sensor without cells. This platinum sensor has been found to be useful for in situ temperature measurement of cells, which is important for investigating cell informatics and pathology.