Cell stiffness measurement using two-fingered microhand

In the field of life science, such as regeneration medicine or cloning, the manipulation and analysis of cells is performed by researchers. However, in micro environments, manipulating objects by hand is often not feasible or practical. We have developed a two-fingered microhand, which will help to improve operation efficiency. Using the microhand, we can manipulate cells i.e., grab, rotate, carry, and so on - like when using chop sticks. The stiffness measurement of a cell is a key approach in single cell analysis techniques. It is important in indicating cell condition, because the stiffness of a cancer cell is lower than that of a normal cell as an example. In this paper, the pressure force caused in the process of cell deformation is measured via a micro force sensor attached to the root of micro glass needle. Our results point out that this can be one efficient measurement method for acquiring cell stiffness. The micro force sensor uses strain gauges to measure the strain of the glass needle so that we can find out the force generated on the micro force sensor indirectly. In this paper, two topics are discussed. One is for converting strain data to force data based on the force sensor model. The other refers to the experimental results about the stiffness measurement of the oocyte.