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Cell property determination from the acoustic microscope generated voltage versus frequency curves.
T Kundu1, J Bereiter-Hahn, I Karl
1Department of Civil Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA. tkundu@u.arizona.edu
Biophysical Journal
|April 25, 2000
Summary
Acoustic microscopy offers a fast, high-resolution, and minimally invasive method to determine living cell mechanical properties. This technique analyzes sound velocity and attenuation to reveal cell stiffness and internal interactions, crucial for understanding cell behavior.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Cell Biology
- Materials Science
Background:
- Acoustic microscopy offers advantages for determining living cell mechanical properties, including speed, spatial resolution, and minimal invasiveness.
- Sound velocity and attenuation are key parameters for assessing cell stiffness (Young's modulus) and supramolecular interactions, respectively.
- These properties are vital for studying cell motility, volume regulation, and cytoskeleton function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a novel application of phase and amplitude sensitive modulation scanning acoustic microscopy for biological cell analysis.
- To obtain longitudinal wave speed, attenuation, and thickness profiles of biological cells using voltage versus frequency (V(f)) curves.
- To accurately determine cell properties and the thin liquid layer thickness between the cell and substrate.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a scanning acoustic microscope with phase and amplitude sensitive modulation.
- Acquired V(f) curves for each pixel by imaging across a frequency range (980-1100 MHz).
- Employed a simplex inversion algorithm to analyze V(f) curves for cell properties, profile, and liquid layer thickness.
Main Results:
- Successfully generated V(f) curves for individual pixels, enabling detailed analysis.
- Demonstrated that the thin liquid layer significantly influences the reflection coefficient and requires consideration.
- Obtained cell mechanical properties, thickness profiles, and the underlying liquid layer thickness.
Conclusions:
- The developed acoustic microscopy method provides accurate and detailed characterization of living cells.
- The inclusion of the thin liquid layer in the analysis is critical for precise results.
- This technique offers advantages such as optimal signal-to-noise ratio, no Rayleigh wave interference, and minimal requirement for substrate material property estimation.