{
  "id": 12915981,
  "title": "All-electrical imaging offers innovative alternative for tracking cell movement",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/all-electrical-imaging-offers-innovative-alternative-for-tracking",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-08T17:20:17.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-electrical-imaging-alternative-tracking-cell.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Engineers at Brown University have devised a novel method for tracking cell migration dynamics, a crucial aspect of processes like cancer metastasis, wound healing, and immune response. Published in the journal Lab on a Chip, this technique utilizes an array of 1 million microscale electrodes where cells can be placed in a nutrient solution, tracking their movement through electrical capacitance. This approach offers a promising alternative to optical microscopes and fluorescence imaging, which can damage cells and alter their behavior. Hyuntae Jeong, a postdoctoral researcher and co-first author, notes that tracking moving cells is challenging due to their rapid movement and shape changes, making computational analysis prone to errors. Unlike traditional methods that require fluorescent dyes that can cause DNA damage or cell death, this new technique tracks cells without disturbing them or the need for hours spent under a microscope. The microelectrodes, arranged in a square microchip of about half an inch (1.3 centimeters) on each side, detect subtle changes in electrical capacitance when cells grip the surface. By measuring these changes, the device can precisely track each cell's movement across the array. This method, which detects differences in electrical capacitance between the cells and the surface, resembles fingerprint scanning technology. Jacob Rosenstein, an associate professor and co-leader of the study, likens it to how fingerprint scanners read the variations in ridges and spaces. The technique was tested on human breast cancer cells, successfully capturing cell division events and tracking the motion of multicellular spheroids, including the movement of leader cells at the cluster edges. Additionally, the researchers demonstrated its ability to image honeycomb tissues composed of hundreds of thousands of cells, revealing voids and boundaries due to complex shape changes. The device, while potentially mass-producible and inexpensive, offers several advantages over conventional microscope imaging. Its large sensor area enables imaging of large tissues without the need for stitching multiple images, and its portability sets it apart from traditional microscopes, as it lacks lenses, light sources, and optics.",
  "summary": "Engineers from Brown University have developed a new way of imaging cell migration dynamics that are important in understanding critical processes like cancer metastasis, wound healing and immune response.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}