Application of Digital Volume Correlation Algorithm to Cell Mechanics

This study developed a digital volume correlation (DVC) algorithm based on fast normalized cross-correlation to measure the 3-dimensional deformation of soft gels, which was further utilized as a force sensor for cell mechanics studies. The developed algorithm was applied to the 3-D volume images of a gel acquired by confocal microscope to measure the deformation of the gel. The gel contained uniformly-dispersed florescence-labeled microbeads so as to generate a necessary speckle pattern for cross-correlation. The developed algorithm has been validated both analytically and experimentally, and applied to investigate cell mechanics by measuring the displacement field induced by the cell motion. Then, surface traction force generated by cells can be quantified through the conventional linear elasticity theory without any further assumption.