Tools and techniques
Contribution of micro-nanotechnologies to the study of cellular mechanics

Among the various tools available for studying cells, we have chosen to distinguish between "active" tools, which are actuated externally and in response to which the cell's response (passive or active) is recorded, and "passive" tools, which are static and designed to test the cells' own activity in the form, in particular, of forces or deformations. These tools are also described in a more biological context in several recent review articles