Visualization of Human Kidney Embryonic Cells by Acoustic Microscopy

Abstract

The aim of our study is to evaluate the capability of acoustic microscopy with a high frequency transducerfor visualization of cells. Human kidney embryonic (HEK293) cells were observed by scanning acousticmicroscope (SAM). HEK293 cells cultured on cover glasses were kept in cell culture plates. A transducerwith 320 MHz center frequency and a spot size of 4.0 μm was incorporated into SAM. Two-dimensionalacoustic images were obtained successfully to identify the morphology and the acoustic properties ofHEK293 cells and the acoustic impedance of HEK293 cells was measured as 1.65  0.02 MRayl. The samecells on cover glasses were observed also with inverted microscope. The results in this study indicate thatscanning acoustic microscopy can be used for the determination of elastic properties of cells, therefore forcellular mapping and molecular imaging, since it can create very sharp images of HEK293 cells with a highfrequency transducer.