Mechanical phenotyping of leukemic blast cells using real-time deformability cytometry

Introduction: Hyperleukocytosis is a well-known emergency situation in leukemia. Myeloid and lymphoid blasts may differ by their rigidity. So far treatment recommendations for intervention are based on blast count only. Aims: Improving diagnosis by using cell mechanics as a label-free cell functional marker. Methods: Real-time deformability cytometry (RT-DC; Otto, Nat Methods 2015) allows label-free characterization of blood cells through their mechanical fingerprint. Cells are flowed through a microfluidic constriction deformed by hydrodynamic shear stress imaged and analyzed in real-time for size and deformati…