Single cells electrical characterizations using nanoprobe via ESEM-nanomanipulator system

We perform electrical characterization on single cells using dual nanoprobe through environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM)-nanomanipulator system. The ability to characterize the electrical property of single cells can be used as a novel method for cell viability detection in a quantitative and fast manner. The nanoprobe has been successfully fabricated using focused ion beam (FIB) tungsten deposition and etching processes. The characteristics of the nanoprobe have been examined from the energy dispersion spectrometry (EDS) and noise analyses. In this paper, for the first time, the electrical property of single cells under their native condition was presented. In order to realize this method for cell viability detection, two types of cells were used, i.e. dead cells and live cells. The results showed that there is a significant different on the electrical measurement data between dead and live cells.