A Comprehensive Survey on Microgrippers Design: Operational Strategy

Dochshanov, Alden; Verotti, Matteo; Belfiore, Nicola Pio

doi:10.1115/1.4036352

Cited by 73 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 207 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, MEMS can improve surgical outcomes, with lower risk, by providing the surgeon with real-time feedback on the operation. From the mechanical and operational point of view, microgrippers for different applications have been extensively proposed in literature [2,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Operations in a Surgical Scenario: Characterization of a Microgripper via Light Microscopy Approach

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)-Technology based micro mechanisms usually operate within a protected or encapsulated space and, before that, they are fabricated and analyzed within one Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) vacuum specimen chamber. However, a surgical scenario is much more aggressive and requires several higher abilities in the microsystem, such as the capability of operating within a liquid or wet environment, accuracy, reliability and sophisticated packaging. Unfortunately, testing and characterizing MEMS experimentally without fundamental support of a SEM is rather challenging. This paper shows that in spite of large difficulties due to well-known physical limits, the optical microscope is still able to play an important role in MEMS characterization at room conditions. This outcome is supported by the statistical analysis of two series of measurements, obtained by a light trinocular microscope and a profilometer, respectively.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Operations in a Surgical Scenario: Characterization of a Microgripper via Light Microscopy Approach

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hundreds of different micro-systems have indeed been reported in the literature [1,2], with different operational strategies [3] and being mainly dedicated to medical or biological applications. Among others, an untethered mobile microgripper controlled by an external electromagnetic coil system has been reported [4], where the manipulation of different microgels was successfully demonstrated with a pick-and-place robotic heterogeneous 3D assembly technique.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative Silicon Microgrippers for Biomedical Applications: Design, Mechanical Simulation and Evaluation of Protein Fouling

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The demand of miniaturized, accurate and robust micro-tools for minimally invasive surgery or in general for micro-manipulation, has grown tremendously in recent years. To meet this need, a new-concept comb-driven microgripper was designed and fabricated. Two microgripper prototypes differing for both the number of links and the number of conjugate surface flexure hinges are presented. Their design takes advantage of an innovative concept based on the pseudo-rigid body model, while the study of microgripper mechanical potentialities in different configurations is supported by finite elements' simulations. These microgrippers, realized by the deep reactive-ion etching technology, are intended as micro-tools for tissue or cell manipulation and for minimally invasive surgery; therefore, their biocompatibility in terms of protein fouling was assessed. Serum albumin dissolved in phosphate buffer was selected to mimic the physiological environment and its adsorption on microgrippers was measured. The presented microgrippers demonstrated having great potential as biomedical tools, showing a modest propensity to adsorb proteins, independently from the protein concentration and time of incubation.

show abstract

“…Microgrippers are one such type of MEMS devices that are typically designed to safely manipulate biological cells [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] as well as micromechanical parts [10][11][12]. The successful development of a MEMS microgripper depends on taking into account several factors including the design and mechanical structure [13], the actuation mechanism [14,15], the choice of materials used [16][17][18][19], the operational requirements and limitations [20], the fabrication technology [21][22][23][24][25][26], and the environment in which the microgripper will be operated [27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Structure Thickness, Air Gap Thickness and Silicon Type on the Performance of a Horizontal Electrothermal MEMS Microgripper

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ongoing development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) over the past decades has made possible the achievement of high-precision micromanipulation within the micromanufacturing, microassembly and biomedical fields. This paper presents different design variants of a horizontal electrothermally actuated MEMS microgripper that are developed as microsystems to micromanipulate and study the deformability properties of human red blood cells (RBCs). The presented microgripper design variants are all based on the U-shape 'hot and cold arm' actuator configuration, and are fabricated using the commercially available Multi-User MEMS Processes (MUMPs R ) that are produced by MEMSCAP, Inc. (Durham, NC, USA) and that include both surface micromachined (PolyMUMPs TM ) and silicon-on-insulator (SOIMUMPs TM ) MEMS fabrication technologies. The studied microgripper design variants have the same in-plane geometry, with their main differences arising from the thickness of the fabricated structures, the consequent air gap separation between the structure and the substrate surface, as well as the intrinsic nature of the silicon material used. These factors are all inherent characteristics of the specific fabrication technologies used. PolyMUMPs TM utilises polycrystalline silicon structures that are composed of two free-standing, independently stackable structural layers, enabling the user to achieve structure thicknesses of 1.5 µm, 2 µm and 3.5 µm, respectively, whereas SOIMUMPs TM utilises a 25 µm thick single crystal silicon structure having only one free-standing structural layer. The microgripper design variants are presented and compared in this work to investigate the effect of their differences on the temperature distribution and the achieved end-effector displacement. These design variants were analytically studied, as well as numerically modelled using finite element analysis where coupled electrothermomechanical simulations were carried out in CoventorWare R (Version 10, Coventor, Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Experimental results for the microgrippers' actuation under atmospheric pressure were obtained via optical microscopy studies for the PolyMUMPs TM structures, and they were found to be conforming with the predictions of the analytical and numerical models. The focus of this work is to identify which one of the studied design variants best optimises the microgripper's electrothermomechanical performance in terms of a sufficient lateral tip displacement, minimum out-of-plane displacement at the arm tips and good heat transfer to limit the temperature at the cell gripping zone, as required for the deformability study of RBCs.

show abstract

A Comprehensive Survey on Microgrippers Design: Operational Strategy

Cited by 73 publications

References 207 publications

Toward Operations in a Surgical Scenario: Characterization of a Microgripper via Light Microscopy Approach

Toward Operations in a Surgical Scenario: Characterization of a Microgripper via Light Microscopy Approach

Innovative Silicon Microgrippers for Biomedical Applications: Design, Mechanical Simulation and Evaluation of Protein Fouling

The Effects of Structure Thickness, Air Gap Thickness and Silicon Type on the Performance of a Horizontal Electrothermal MEMS Microgripper

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About