Microfluidic chip bio-sensor for detection of cancer cells

Mechanical properties of single cells are associated with their disease status. Thus, cell biomechanics can serve as a reliable biomarker to distinguish cancerous cells from normal ones. Previously, it has been shown that the average deformability of cancerous cells is significantly larger than that of normal cells. In this paper, to compare the deformability of benign and tumor cells, we designed a microfluidic device with a narrow constriction straight channel and two reservoirs. We expect that softer cells will travel faster through the channel than stiffer cells. Hence, we can correlate the measured transit times for the cells to their stiffness. The results show that the average transit time of non-malignant breast cells (MCF 10A) through the channel is 1.9-fold larger than malignant breast cells (MDA-MB-231) and the average transit time of benign early stage mouse ovarian cancer cells is 1.8-fold larger than aggressive late stage ones.