Auto nanomanipulation system for single cell mechanical property characterization inside an environmental SEM

Single cell´s mechanical property characterization is important for the understanding of the cell´s condition and activity. In this paper, an automatic nanomanipulation system was proposed for single cell mechanical property characterization inside an environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). A nanoneedle was fabricated from AFM (atomic force microscopy) cantilever by FIB (focused ion beam) etching technique. The nanoneedle was fixed to a nanorobotic manipulator, which has three degrees of freedom, i.e. X, Y and Z translation. Single yeast cell was put on an tungsten probe substrate inside ESEM. The position information of the nanoneedle and single cell were used as the feedback signals to control the movement of the nanorobotic manipulator. Finally, the stiffness of the single cell was measured using the nanoneedle driven by the automatic nanomanipulation system.