A novel high throughput microfluidic cell transit analyzer using air liquid interface as localized pressure sensor

We report a novel microfluidic platform that measures pressure drop during the passage of a single cell through a mechanical constriction for mechano-phenotyping of cell populations. It uses a precisely positioned Air-Liquid Interface as a Sensor (ALIaS) near the outlet of the constriction. When cells pass through the constriction they momentarily plug the inlet resulting in a drop in the hydrodynamic pressure at the outlet of the constriction. This change in pressure leads to motion of the air-liquid interface which can be correlated to entry and transit time of the cell passage. ALIaS facilitates accurate measurements of cell entry and transit time at high throughout (>200 cells/s). The platform can reliably quantify the variation in deformability in cell populations upon treatment with Glutaraldehyde. The system presents a potential for mechanobiological studies and can be made portable through electrical measurements of interface oscillations.