Design and Fabrication of Tube typed Muscle Powered Bioactuator Stimulated by Circumferential Stretching System

Integration of biology and mechanics produces a novel bio-micro actuator. We designed circular truncated cone tube actuator made of PDMS courted with muscle cell sheet. Contractile force of Muscle cell sheet drives the actuator without electrical source. And it is necessary that the force is transmitted effectively to PDMS film. To solve this problem, Circumferential Stretching System is developed. This system stretches cells circumferential direction in contrast conventional one. It enables cells to improve in the generative force of muscle cell and is uniformed the orientation to most effectively direction. The muscle cells are cultured on the thin film made of PDMS and elongated and contracted by using an external magnetic field as driving source. As a result, we succeeded in cell culture in totally non-contaminated environment for cells. We demonstrated this systems and conducted preliminary experiment with using cultured skeletal myoblast and observed change in cell orientation.