Abstract
Measurement of cell deformability has been of a great interest among researchers because it is known that cell deformability may be closely related to physiology and pathology of tissues where the cells are located. However, it requires an amount of time and cost to measure cell deformability with conventional methods. In this study, a microfluidic device has been developed for a high-throughput measurement of cell deformability. The microfluidic device includes a parallel array of tapered microchannels where cells are trapped. In the experiments, cells introduced in the microchannels are trapped at a certain position based on cell diameter and deformability. Because the cell-trapped position in the microchannel reflects cell deformability, the Young's moduli of cells can be determined through microscopic observation. As a proof of study, we tested bovine chondrocytes and obtained the Young's modulus of 3.85 kPa.
