ABSTRACT
Manufacturing microsensors requires a commitment of time and resources. If just a few measurements in a biofilm are needed, it is better to either buy the microsensors or collaborate with someone who makes them rather than try to construct them in the laboratory. Constructing microsensors remains a craft that is learned by trial and error. Procedures for making new microsensors or improving existing ones are often disseminated as informal communication among researchers rather than as precise protocols listing the materials and procedures used in their manufacture. Before starting your own microsensor laboratory, it is important to actually visit a laboratory manufacturing microsensors and get a sense of what is required to start this activity. Our own involvement in manufacturing microsensors started in the 1980s with our visits to the laboratory of Niels Peter Revsbech at the University of Aarchus in Denmark and has continued with our collaboration with that group of researchers. Over the years, we have developed our own procedures and modified some of the existing procedures, and we now offer a series of workshops to help others who want to start constructing microsensors on their own. Much of the material in this chapter has been extracted from the notes and handouts we use during these workshops. These procedures for developing microsensors have been tested and refined by a number of biofilm researchers. They work well in our laboratory, and we have examples of other laboratories that have started to construct microsensors based on these notes.
