Full-angle tomographic phase microscopy of flowing quasi-spherical cells. Issue 1 (23rd November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Villone, Massimiliano M.; Memmolo, Pasquale; Merola, Francesco; Mugnano, Martina; Miccio, Lisa; Maffettone, Pier Luca; Ferraro, Pietro
• Is Part Of: Lab on a chip. Volume 18:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 126
• Page End: 131
• Publication Date: 2017-11-23
• Subjects: Miniature electronic equipment -- Periodicals; Combinatorial chemistry -- Periodicals; Biotechnology -- Periodicals; 543.0813
• DOI: 10.1039/c7lc00943g
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1473-0197

Abstract

Abstract : We report a reliable full-angle tomographic phase microscopy (FA-TPM) method for flowing quasi-spherical cells along microfluidic channels. Abstract : We report a reliable full-angle tomographic phase microscopy (FA-TPM) method for flowing quasi-spherical cells along microfluidic channels. This method lies in a completely passive optical system, i.e. mechanical scanning or multi-direction probing of the sample is avoided. It exploits the engineered rolling of cells while they are flowing along a microfluidic channel. Here we demonstrate significant progress with respect to the state of the art of in-flow TPM by showing a general extension to cells having almost spherical shapes while they are flowing in suspension. In fact, the adopted strategy allows the accurate retrieval of rotation angles through a theoretical model of the cells' rotation in a dynamic microfluidic flow by matching it with phase-contrast images resulting from holographic reconstructions. So far, the proposed method is the first and the only one that permits to get in-flow TPM by probing the cells with full-angle, achieving accurate 3D refractive index mapping and the simplest optical setup, simultaneously. Proof of concept experiments were performed successfully on human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells, opening the way for the full characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the new paradigm of liquid biopsy.