Design of a microforce sensor based on fixed-simply supported beam: Towards realtime cell microinjection

Cellular force sensing is an important part of microrobotic cell manipulation systems. In this paper, a micro force sensor capable of providing real-time cell force feedback is proposed. A novel fixed-simply supported force sensing beam structure is first designed. The PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) is chose as the sensing element. The mechanical and electrical transformation models are then derived. The performance of the sensor is test with repeatability, linearity and frequency response. Finally, a real-time zebrafish embryo microinjection experiments were conducted. The experimental results showed that the effeteness of the designed sensor in real-time cell microinjection force measure.