Living cells captured in pyramid cages

Researchers from the University of Twente in the Netherlands have made a cage that will allow cells to be observed in their natural 3-dimensional environment. The cage is made by depositing nitrides over silicon pits, and when most of the material is peeled away, a small amount of material remains in the corners to create a pyramid. This is a better way of viewing living cells than the flat plane created when using a Petri Dish as the cells are able to interact as the normally do due to the open spaces created by the pyramid.



While culturing cells in 3D is not a new discovery, and it is also not favored when compared to the classic Petri Dish examination,this is a new method that may change that. It is believed that we "could study dynamic interactions with non-tumor cells. For example immune cells could be directly studied on how they recognize/interact with tumor cells. An experiment could be performed to understand why some tumor cells evade surveillance, and why other are killed. With this technology it could advance the diagnostic ability to take metastatic cancer cells circulating in your blood and quickly decide which drugs could be used most effectively. There are really limitless applications with using these platforms."

I hope that this creation of a cage to capture a cell and allow for 3D observation is finally the observation that allows 3D to become just important as the standard 2D study. I think this is a very interesting topic and will be sure to follow along with this.