13, 14 Microcontact printing is one of the most popular laboratory techniques for the fabrication of chemical or protein micro-patterns. 7- 12 Cell micro-patterning is an extremely powerful tool that promotes selective attachment and confinement of single cells through surface chemistry.

Micro-patterned surfaces enable the capture and confinement of single cells or large populations. Methods for improving the retention of cells on MEMS resonant sensors for hours, or days, are needed to enable studies into the long-term growth dynamics of cancer cells. 6 Previous studies have used fluidic traps 5 and dielectrophoresis (DEP) 1 to control the positioning of cells on MEMS resonant sensors, though these methods require complicated on-chip systems and do not trap the cells for long periods of time. Even cells that are considered non-motile remain active, exhibiting spatial movements that permit cells to escape from the sensor. Cells that are highly motile, such as metastatic cancer cells, will move off the sensor thus ending the measurement.

1- 5 Investigations of growth over the cell cycle require long-term measurements over many hours and are challenged by the movement of cells during the experiment. The use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonant sensors to study the growth of individual cells is a developing area of research.

Mulab 7 trap