On-Chip Dynamic Mechanical Characterization: From Cells to Nucleus

Traditional single-cell mechanical characterization techniques (e.g., atomic force microscopy) often face limitations in throughput, require invasive labeling, or fail to replicate physiological microenvironments, impeding their clinical utility for rapid cancer cell analysis. To address these limitations for automated characterization of cellular mechanical properties, this study proposes a novel method using microchannels with narrow geometric structures to measure cellular mechanical characteristics. A dynamic mechanical characterization technique with serially connected microchannels simulates malignant tumor cell deformation and migration in vivo, enabling precise identification of three malignant tumor cell lines and three normal cell lines through consecutive compressions. High-speed imaging combined with computer vision and image processing techniques facilitates rapid and accurate automated analysis for tumor cells. Furthermore, this study reveals that the mechanical properties of the cell nucleus determine the overall cellular mechanics, with the differences between tumor and normal cells attributed to variations in nucleus mechanics. This approach shows promise for early cancer diagnosis.