Invention:
This invention is a minimal-contact method used to trap and measure the stiffness of platelets in relation to the whole cell.
Background:
Platelets, essential for hemostasis, are easily activated via biochemical and mechanical stimuli. In addition, cell stiffness is a vital parameter modulating the mechano-transduction of exogenous mechanical stimuli. This methodology seeks to address the gap in approaches of measuring individual platelet stiffness without inadvertent platelet activation.
Applications:
- Hospital assessments (measuring cell stiffness)
- Forensic medicine (determining cause of disease/impairment/death)
- Biological research
- Cancer research
- Stem cell research
Advantages:
- Employs dielectrophoresis-mediated electrodeformation
- Facilitates further studies of mechanisms involved in mechanically-mediated platelet activation
- Measures the mechanical properties of adherent, anchorage-dependent cells and anchorage-independent suspended cells that have limited shear sensitivity
Status: issued U.S. patent #11,668,699
