Thermal conductivity of single biological cells and relation with cell viability

Abstract

This paper presents measurements of effective thermal conductivity of single biological cells (HeLa, NIH-3T3 J2, and hepatocyte). Such cellular-level measurements have not been performed previously, due to the small size (∼10 pl) of cells. The measurement uses the three-omega method with a nanoscale thermal sensor and a micro-well structure that confines the cell. The results provide a fundamental property to investigate the thermodynamics of cells. We also measured thermal conductivity of dead cells; results were significantly different from those of live cells. The difference means that thermal conductivity can be used for probing cell viability.