On-line tracking of living cell subjected to cyclic stretch

We propose a novel system for the observation of living cell exposed to cyclic stretch under dynamic conditions. The developed system is mainly composed of a laptop PC, a stretching unit with three motorized stages, and a microscope with a CCD camera. The design of the cell tracking system is based on the deformation characteristics of the elastic chamber and its performance was confirmed through the basic experiments. Finally, we succeeded in on-line imaging of living single cells under the microscope with a high magnification ratio. We believe that the developed system is a promising platform for studying the immediate responses of cells exposed to cyclic stretch.