Measurement of Single-Cell Deformability Using Impedance Analysis on Microfluidic Chip

In this paper, we propose a microfluidic chip that measures the deformability of single cells by an impedance measurement method. The proposed chip is designed to differentiate the deformability of various cells by measuring the length of their stretched membrane indirectly according to the variation of the impedance after applying aspiration pressure to the cell membrane. The length of the stretched cell membrane is proportional to the applied pressure. Lengths of 18 and 21 mm were observed at the same suction pressure for human breast normal cells (MCF-10A) and caner cells (MCF-7), respectively. Electrical measurement was performed using an impedance analyzer at various frequencies. Results revealed that the impedance measurement method can be used to analyze the biomechanical characteristics of single cells, which indicates the state of malignancy of cells. (C) 2010 The Japan Society of Applied Physics