Analyses of single-cell mechanoelectrical properties via microfluidics

Differences in both the mechanical and electrical properties of cancer and normal breast cells have been reported extensively in literature. Here, we report a microfluidic biosensor capable of measuring the mechanoelectrical (M/E) properties by monitoring impedance variations simultaneously at four frequencies as cells are forced through a narrow deformation region. The entry, transit, and total times of cells in the deformation region, which are a measure of the cells' biomechanical properties were calculated from plots of impedance versus time and correlated well with those obtained from videos captured using a high-speed camera. The ratio of impedance changes for deformed cells at 10 kHz and 100 kHz were significantly different for metastatic MDA-MB-231 and non-tumorigenic MCF-10A cells and were more distinct when compared to their corresponding transit times.