High-Throughput Deformability Cytometry

Researchers from ETH Zürich and Universitätsspital Zürich, led by Mohammad Asghari, have introduced a new high-throughput viscoelastic deformability cytometry (vDC) technique for mechanical phenotyping large numbers of single cells in liquid and solid biopsies. This innovative system allows real-time measurement of cell deformation at rates of up to 100,000 cells per second.

vDC utilizes viscoelastic fluids to focus and deform cells in parallel microchannels, eliminating the need for sheath flows. Using bright-field imaging and real-time image analysis, the team extracted size and deformation metrics at rates of thousands of cells per second. This allowed for efficient phenotyping of diverse samples, including breast cancer lines, glioblastoma subtypes, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. Moreover, it was used to detect rare circulating tumor cell (CTC) mimics in blood with high sensitivity, highlighting its potential in clinical diagnostics.

This high-throughput, label-free approach simplifies cell mechanical characterization and can be used in hospitals for rapid screening and disease monitoring, especially in cases where traditional molecular methods fail.

Written by Sourabh Das

Read the published article here.