Novel MEMS-Based Technology for Measuring the Mechanical Properties of a Live Biological Cell
This paper presents an experimental platform for measuring the mechanical properties of live biological cells. The polymer-based MEMS device integrates a V-shaped electrothermal actuator (ETA) array, a force sensor, a displacement sensor, a thermal sensor, and a cell-positioning system in a single chip. The integrated cell-positioning system based on dielectrophoresis precisely places a cell to a designed spot, the MEMS ETA array provides a predefined deformation to the cell, the force and displacement sensors measure the magnitude of the force applied to the cell and the corresponding cell deformation, and the thermal sensor monitors temperature in the liquid cell medium environment during the experiment. This MEMS device was able to compress a NIH3T3 fibroblast cell and cause 25% mechanical strain.