Instant labeling of therapeutic cells for multimodality imaging

Autologous therapeutic cells are typically harvested and transplanted in one single surgery. This makes it impossible to label them with imaging biomarkers through classical transfection techniques in a laboratory. To solve this problem, we developed a novel microfluidic device, which provides highly efficient labeling of therapeutic cells with imaging biomarkers through mechanoporation. Methods: Studies were performed with a new, custom-designed microfluidic device, which contains ridges, which compress adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs) during their device passage. Cell relaxation after compression leads to cell volume exchange for convective transfer of nanoparticles and nanoparti…