Solid tumours are often first diagnosed by palpation, suggesting that the tumour is more rigid
than its surrounding environment. Paradoxically, individual cancer cells appear to be softer …

Optical tweezers, tools based on strongly focused light, enable optical trap**,
manipulation, and characterisation of a wide range of microscopic and nanoscopic …

The most dangerous aspect of cancer lies in metastatic progression. Tumor cells will
successfully form life-threatening metastases when they undergo sequential steps along a …

Separation and sorting of micron-sized particles has great importance in diagnostics,
chemical and biological analyses, food and chemical processing and environmental …

Cellular mechanical properties play an integral role in bacterial survival and adaptation.
Historically, the bacterial cell wall and, in particular, the layer of polymeric material called the …

The metastatic potential of cells is an important parameter in the design of optimal strategies
for the personalized treatment of cancer. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), we show …

Cell state is often assayed through measurement of biochemical and biophysical markers.
Although biochemical markers have been widely used, intrinsic biophysical markers, such …

Recently, research on particle migration in non-Newtonian viscoelastic fluids has gained
considerable attention. In a viscoelastic fluid, three dimensional (3D) particle focusing can …

The main obstacle in retrieving quantitative phase with high sensitivity is posed by the phase
noise due to mechanical vibrations and air fluctuations that typically affect any …

We present a procedure that allows a reliable determination of the elastic (Young's) modulus
of soft samples, including living cells, by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The standardized …