Manipulation at the NanoNewton level: Micrograpsing for mechanical characterization of biomaterials

Author

Kim, Keekyoung ; Liu, Xinyu ; Zhang, Yong ; Cheng, Ji ; Wu, Xiao Yu ; Sun, Yu

Author_Institution

Adv. Micro & Nanosystems Lab., Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

fYear

2009

fDate

12-17 May 2009

Firstpage

902

Lastpage

907

Abstract

This paper presents the use of a monolithic, force-feedback MEMS (microelectomechanical systems) microgripper for characterizing both elastic and viscoelastic properties of highly deformable hydrogel microcapsules (15-25 mum) at wet state during micromanipulation. The single-chip microgripper integrates an electrothermal microactuator and two capacitive force sensors, one for contact detection (force resolution: 38.5 nN) and the other for gripping force measurements (force resolution: 19.9 nN). Through nanoNewton force measurements, closed-loop force control, and visual tracking, the system quantified Young´s modulus values and viscoelastic parameters of alginate microcapsules, demonstrating an easy-to-operate, accurate compression testing technique for characterizing soft, micrometer-sized biomaterials.

Keywords

Young´s modulus; elasticity; force control; force feedback; force sensors; grippers; hydrogels; microactuators; micromanipulators; micromechanical devices; viscoelasticity; Young modulus; biomaterials mechanical characterization; capacitive force sensors; closed-loop force control; compression testing technique; deformable hydrogel microcapsules; elastic properties; electrothermal microactuator; force-feedback MEMS microgripper; gripping force measurements; microelectomechanical systems; micrometer-sized biomaterials; nanoNewton level; single-chip microgripper; viscoelastic properties; visual tracking; Elasticity; Electrothermal effects; Force control; Force measurement; Force sensors; Grippers; Microactuators; Micromechanical devices; System testing; Viscosity; MEMS; Micromanipulation; Young´s modulus; force feedback; hydrogel microcapsule; micrograsping; microgripper; viscoelastic parameters;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Robotics and Automation, 2009. ICRA '09. IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Kobe

ISSN

1050-4729

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-2788-8

Electronic_ISBN

1050-4729

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ROBOT.2009.5152651

Filename

5152651