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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

A Microfluidic Technique to Probe Cell Deformability
Published on: September 3, 2014
Deformability considerations in filtration of biological cells
Jason S Kuo1, Yongxi Zhao, Perry G Schiro
1Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1700, USA.
Abstract:
Biological cells are highly sensitive to variation in local pressure because cellular membranes are not rigid. Unlike microbeads, cells deform under pressure or even lyse. In isolating or enriching cells by mechanical filtration, pressure-induced lysis is exacerbated when high local fluidic velocity is present or when a filter reaches its intended capacity. Microfabrication offers new possibilities to design fluidic environments to reduce cellular stress during the filtration process. We describe the underlying biophysics of cellular stress and general solutions to scale up filtration processes for biological cells.
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