Microarray-facilitated mechanical characterization of breast tissue pathology samples using contact-mode Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)

Much of the difficulty in rendering consistent evaluation of pathological tissue specimens arises from qualitative impressions of observers. Hence, a quantitative phenotype to automatically characterize the type and stage of cancer based upon an objective measure of its morphology and mechanical properties could provide insight regarding the changes that occur in the tissue environment during the course of disease onset and progression. In this work, we attempt to evaluate the elastic modulus of normal and cancerous human breast tissue using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), which consists of a micro-cantilever that probes the sample at multiple locations to evaluate its local stiffness. We use the Hertz contact model to evaluate the elastic modulus values. Our initial findings show that cancerous specimens exhibit significantly lower elastic modulus than normal breast tissue.