Cardiac Muscle Cell-based Actuator and Self-stabilizing Biorobot - Part 2

Journal of Visualized Experiments : JoVE
Neerajha NagarajanPinar Zorlutuna

Abstract

In recent years, hybrid devices that consist of a living cell or tissue component integrated with a synthetic mechanical backbone have been developed. These devices, called biorobots, are powered solely by the force generated from the contractile activity of the living component and, due to their many inherent advantages, could be an alternative to conventional fully artificial robots. Here, we describe the methods to seed and characterize a biological actuator and a biorobot that was designed, fabricated, and functionalized in the first part of this two-part article. Fabricated biological actuator and biorobot devices composed of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) base and a thin film cantilever were functionalized for cell attachment with fibronectin. Following functionalization, neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were seeded onto the PDMS cantilever arm at a high density, resulting in a confluent cell sheet. The devices were imaged every day and the movement of the cantilever arms was analyzed. On the second day after seeding, we observed the bending of the cantilever arms due to the forces exerted by the cells during spontaneous contractions. Upon quantitative analysis of the cantilever bending, a gradual increase in the surface stress...Continue Reading

Citations

Nov 22, 2017·Science Robotics·Victoria A Webster-WoodRoger D Quinn

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