RAPID LYSIS OF ERYTHROCYTES UNDER HYDRODYNAMIC FOCUSING REVEALS CELL BIOMECHANICS

摘要

The biomechanics of erythrocytes is important for revealing the disease state of cells. The current techniques for measuring the erythrocyte biomechanics suffer from either complicated setup or expensive bulky instrumentation. We have developed a novel microfluidic lysis method for studying cell mechanics. We found erythrocyte release kinetics quantitatively reflects the cell biomechanics. Cells with different rigidity were created by treating with various chemicals or heating. Our method has been demonstrated to be effective in differentiating cells with different rigidity and thus be promising in application of disease diagnosis involving erythrocytes rigidity.