Towards a micromachined system for mechanical characterization of osteoblasts

Author

Tatic-Lucic, Svetlana ; Gnerlich, Markus ; Zhang, Wenyue ; Donahue, Henry ; Voloshin, Arkady

Author_Institution

Electr. & Comput. Eng. Dept., Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA

fYear

2008

fDate

13-14 May 2008

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

6

Abstract

Measurement of the Young´s modulus of bone cells (osteoblasts) is considered to be of paramount importance to investigate and find a more efficient cure for osteoporosis, an illness that is impacting a significant portion of the world´s senior population. MEMS technology is an ideal platform to build a better testing system with the desired qualities. Some microdevices based on MEMS technology have been developed for this purpose, but most of them are still in the initial stages of development. In this paper, a BioMEM system for testing the mechanical properties of a biological cell is designed and fabricated which include an electrothermal actuator for the cultured cell compression, a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature in the cell medium, a cell-positioning system and a force sensor for measuring the force applied to the cell.

Keywords

Young´s modulus; bioMEMS; biomechanics; biomedical measurement; biothermics; bone; cellular biophysics; diseases; force sensors; micromachining; temperature sensors; BioMEM system; Young´s modulus measurement; biological cell; bone cells; electrothermal actuator; force sensor; mechanical properties testing; micromachined system; osteoporosis; temperature sensor; Bones; Cells (biology); Force measurement; Force sensors; Mechanical factors; Mechanical variables measurement; Micromechanical devices; Osteoporosis; System testing; Temperature sensors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwaves, Communications, Antennas and Electronic Systems, 2008. COMCAS 2008. IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Tel-Aviv

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-2097-1

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-2098-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/COMCAS.2008.4562775

Filename

4562775