Standardized microgel beads as elastic cell mechanical probes.

Cell mechanical measurements are gaining increasing interest in biological and biomedical studies. However, there are no standardized calibration particles available that permit the cross-comparison of different measurement techniques operating at different stresses and time-scales. Here we present the rational design, production, and comprehensive characterization of poly-acrylamide (PAAm) microgel beads mimicking size and overall mechanics of biological cells. We produced mono-disperse beads at rates of 20-60 kHz by means of a microfluidic droplet generator, where the pre-gel composition was adjusted to tune the beads' elasticity in the range of cell and tissue relevant mechanical properties. We verified bead homogeneity by optical diffraction tomography and Brillouin microscopy. Consistent elastic behavior of microgel beads at different shear rates was confirmed by AFM-enabled nanoindentation and real-time deformability cytometry (RT-DC). The remaining inherent variability in elastic modulus was rationalized using polymer theory and effectively reduced by sorting based on forward-scattering using conventional flow cytometry. Our results show that PAAm microgel beads can be standardized as mechanical probes, to serve not only for validation and calibration of cell mechanical measurements, but also as cell-scale stress sensors.

Integrated microfluidic device for single-cell trapping and spectroscopy.

Optofluidic microsystems are key components towards lab-on-a-chip devices for manipulation and analysis of biological specimens. In particular, the integration of optical tweezers (OT) in these devices allows stable sample trapping, while making available mechanical, chemical and spectroscopic analyses.

Emerging fabrication techniques for 3D nano-structuring in plasmonics and single molecule studies.

The application of new methods and techniques to fields such as biology and medicine is becoming more and more demanding since the request of detailed information down to single molecules is a scientific necessity and a technical realistic possibility. In this effort a key role is played by emerging fabrication techniques. One of the hardest challenges is to incorporate the third dimension in the design and fabrication of novel devices. Significantly, this means that conventional nano-fabrication methods, intrinsically useful for planar structuring, have to be substituted or complemented with new approaches. In this paper we show how emerging techniques can be used for 3D structuring of noble metals down to nanoscale. In particular, the paper deals with electroless deposition of silver, ion and electron beam induced deposition, focused ion beam milling, and two-photon lithography. We exploited these techniques to fabricate different plasmonics nanolenses, nanoprobes and novel beads for optical tweezers. In the future these devices will be used for the manipulation and chemical investigation of single cells with sensitivity down to a few molecules in label free conditions and native environment. Although this paper is only devoted to nanofabrication, we foresee that the fields of biology and medicine will directly gain substantial advantages from this approach.