@article {156366, title = {Capillary micromechanics: Measuring the elasticity of microscopic soft objects}, journal = {Soft Matter}, volume = {6}, number = {18}, year = {2010}, pages = {4550-4555}, abstract = {We present a simple method for accessing the elastic properties of microscopic deformable particles. This method is based on measuring the pressure-induced deformation of soft particles as they are forced through a tapered glass microcapillary. It allows us to determine both the compressive and the shear modulus of a deformable object in one single experiment. Measurements on a model system of polyacrylamide microgel particles exhibit good agreement with measurements on bulk gels of identical composition. Our approach is applicable over a wide range of mechanical properties and should thus be a valuable tool for the characterization of a variety of soft and biological materials.}, url = {https://pubs.rsc.org/En/content/articlelanding/2010/sm/c003344h$\#$!divAbstract}, author = {Wyss, Hans M. and Franke, Thomas and Mele, Elisa and Weitz, David A} }