Abstract
There is an increasing interest to use polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based materials as bio-transducers for force measurements in the order of micro to nano Newton. The accuracy of these devices relies on appropriate material characterization of PDMS and modelling to convert the micropillar deformations into the corresponding forces. Previously, we have reported on fabricated PDMS micropillar that acts as a cylindrical cantilever and was experimentally used to measure the force of the nematode C. elegans . In this research, similar PDMS micropillars are designed and simulated using ANSYS software. The simulation involves investigating two main factors that is expected to affect the force measurement performance; pillar height and diameter. Results show that the deformation increases when pillar height is increased and the deformation is inversely proportional to the pillar diameter. The maximum deformation obtained is 713 um with pillar diameter of 20 um and pillar height of 100 um. Results of stress and strain show similar pattern, where their values decreases as pillar diameter and height is increased. The simulated results are also compared with the calculated displacement. The trend for both calculated and simulated values are similar with 13% average difference.
Highlights
C. elegans is a non-parasitic worm that has been extensively utilized for genetic model purposes to explore the correlation concerning genes and movement at the neuronal level
The reason for this is predominantly due to its transparency, having a nervous system so simple with merely 302 neurons, and a completely sequenced genome
Based on previous research, [8], the force exerted by the C. elegans is in the range from 5 - 70 μN
Summary
C. elegans is a non-parasitic worm that has been extensively utilized for genetic model purposes to explore the correlation concerning genes and movement at the neuronal level. The reason for this is predominantly due to its transparency, having a nervous system so simple with merely 302 neurons, and a completely sequenced genome. In order to study C. elegans propulsion, research has been conducted to measure the worm’s movement force which is induced by the contraction of their body wall muscle. The relationship between the nerves and the muscles in charge for the force generation in the neuromuscular system during the worm’s motion can be obtained. As the worm is small with the length of approximately 1 mm and the estimated width of 100μm, the existing sensors used in millimeter and larger scales are not capable of sensing the forces at the micro-Newton level
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