Design of a microfluidics system to monitor tension history prior to a kinetochore detachment. (A) Left: Duplicated sister centromeres (green) are attached to opposite spindle poles (red) via kinetochore microtubules (light gray) and the kinetochore complex (dark gray). Pulling forces on the kinetochore are balanced by inwardly directed tension forces (F_tension, green). Right: Low tension precedes kinetochore detachment events (Mukherjee et al., 2019), however, the tension history prior to a detachment event remains unknown (middle). (B) Schematic of microfluidics device with 100 µm side channels and a 1,500 µm long main channel. Step 1: Metaphase-arrested cells (magenta) are introduced into the main channel (horizontal) through the inlet port. Step 2: The vacuum ports (green) are used to draw cells into the side channels, where they adhere to the coverslip. Step 3: Fresh media to trigger Cin8 degradation (blue) is introduced via the inlet port and travels by diffusion to the side channels for the duration of imaging.