Investigation of elasto-mechanical properties of alginate microcapsules by scanning acoustic microscopy.

High-frequency scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) was used for investigation of acoustic impedance and 3D-surface topography of full alginate microspheres that act as model of artificial biological cells. Elasto-mechanical properties of the investigated specimens have been characterized by acoustic impedance. Mean surface impedance of microspheres (diameter: 300 microm) was measured with SAM at 900 MHz with a spatial resolution of 1.