Abstract. For the first time, a fluorescence lifetime calibration method for an oxygen-sensitive dye ruthenium tris͑2 ,2Ј-dipyridyl͒ dichloride hexahydrate ͑RTDP͒ is applied to image oxygen levels in poly͑dimethyl siloxane͒ ͑PDMS͒ bioreactors containing living C2C12 mouse myoblasts. PDMS microsystems are broadly used in bioengineering applications due to their biocompatibility and ease of handling. For these systems, oxygen concentrations are of significance and are likely to play an important role in cell behavior and gene expression. Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy ͑FLIM͒ bases image contrast on fluorophore excited state lifetimes, which reflect local biochemistry. Unique attributes of the widefield, timedomain FLIM system include tunable excitation ͑337.1 to 960 nm͒, large temporal dynamic range ͑Ն600 ps͒, high spatial resolution ͑1.4 m͒, calibrated detection ͑0 to 300± 8 M of oxygen͒, and rapid data acquisition and processing times ͑10 s͒. Oxygen levels decrease with increasing cell densities and are consistent with model outcomes obtained by simulating bioreactor oxygen diffusion and cell proliferation. In single bioreactor loops, FLIM detects spatial heterogeneity in oxygen levels with variations as high as 20%. The fluorescence lifetime-based imaging approach we describe avoids intensity-based artifacts ͑in-cluding photobleaching and concentration variations͒ and provides a technique with high spatial discrimination for oxygen monitoring in continuous cell culture systems. Microfluidic devices have promising applications in cellbased assays and microscale tissue engineering, where spatiotemporal conditions are readily manipulated. Recently, poly͑dimethyl siloxane͒-͑PDMS͒-based microfluidic systems have been developed as biocompatible and rapidly prototyped systems for microscale-cell culture. For example, cells could be seeded and cultured successfully under continually perfused conditions to achieve an extracellular fluid-to-cell ͑vol-ume͒ ratio close to the physiological value 1 of 0.5. This small ratio facilitates heterogeneous chemical distribution, which may be critical in specifying cell fate in developing tissues. It is hence of great interest to quantitatively and with minimal perturbation characterize components ͑e.g., mitogens, nutrients, oxygen͒ in microfluidic bioreactors that influence cellular responses.Oxygen in cell cultures influences cell signaling, growth, differentiation, and death.1 PDMS bioreactors are popular due to their high diffusivity of oxygen, which has been repeatedly demonstrated.2 It has been observed, 3 however, that the diffusivity of PDMS can vary, depending on protein adsorption ͑e.g., when cells are cultured͒ or surface modification ͑e.g., plasma oxidization for bioreactors͒. It is hypothesized that this variability in PDMS permeability, along with cellular uptake and culture media perfusion, can affect spatial variations in oxygen within PDMS bioreactors.Optical measurements of oxygen sensitive agents have advantages over more traditional, electrode-based app...