The W8 Physical cytometer provides a label-free, non-invasive method for monitoring and quantifying the physical properties of 3D cell cultures over time.
Gathering precise information on their size, weight, and mass-density values are crucial to support decisions for protocol optimization and setting of the best culture conditions.

Imaging of thick 3D cell models doesn’t come without problems. Therefore, the label-free measurement of spheroids’ biophysics represents a key step forward to accurate testing of new molecular entities. While weight loss and diameter shrinkage are coherently related to apoptosis and viability decrease, mass density as well proves to be a valuable marker of spheroid’s impaired compactness linked to drug toxicity.

CellDynamics’ patented method of automated sorting and flow-based recovery allows the harvesting of spheroids’ subsets under sterile conditions and without compromising sample viability. Flow rate and microchannel geometries are specifically designed to avoid any shear stress on the 3D cell models during this procedure.

Immunotherapy constitutes an ever-growing trend in cancer treatment. Having a quantitative, easy assay for evaluating the in vitro efficacy would tremendously help bring together relevant insights in preclinical research. The W8 Physical Cytometer introduces a new method to quantify the infiltration rate and killing efficacy of immune cells, in terms of spheroid’s mass density increase and weight loss respectively.