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

Potrich, Cristina; Lunelli, Lorenzo; Bagolini, Alvise; Bellutti, P.; Pederzolli, Cecilia; Verotti, Matteo; Belfiore, Nicola Pio

doi:10.3390/act7020012

Cited by 23 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…More recently, new emerging MEMS-Technology based instruments for biomedical and surgical applications have been developed. In fact, based on a new concept hinge [28,29], a class of different microgrippers, equipped with rotary comb-drives, has been developed [30][31][32][33], also in significant environments [34], and fabricated [35,36]. Thanks to their size, these instruments are expected to be employed in surgery and diagnostics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2019

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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.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2019

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“…The constantly growing need for high-precision micromanipulation has seen the implementation of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in numerous applications within the micromanufacturing and biomedical fields. 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

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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.

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“…(Degree of Freedom) multi-hinge devices appeared in the literature, such as, for example, multi-axis MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) gyroscopes [3], micro-mechanisms [4], and 3 D.o.F. micro-robots [5][6][7][8], which take advantage of the appearance of new micro-hinges [9][10][11] and microgrippers [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. stress up to 216 MPa pressure showed that the fibrous morphology of KCC-1 remained unaffected [36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Nanomanipulation of SiO2 Nanoparticles: Design, Fabrication and Feasibility

et al. 2018

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Although some recent developments in nanotechnology made the prospects of a direct mechanical manipulation of micro-or nano-objects quite realistic, there are still several concerns and difficulties that affect such an endeavor. This is probably due to the large base of knowledge that is necessary to approach the problem of handling a nano-object by means of a nano-or micro-device. Therefore, any progress in this field is possible only by means of an integrated and interdisciplinary approach, which takes into account different aspects of the phenomenon. During the actual pioneering phase, there is a certain convenience in handling nano-objects that: (a) have peculiar known characteristics; (b) are easily recognizable, and (c) are interesting to the scientific community. This paper presents the interdisciplinary activities that were necessary to set up an experiment where specifically synthesized SiO 2 particles came in contact with the tips of specifically-designed and -fabricated nanomanipulators. SiO 2 mesoporous nanoparticles (KCC-1), having a peculiar dendritic structure, have been selected as a suitable nano-object because of the possibility to easily modulate their morphology. The expected contact force has been also calculated by means of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) electro-mechanical simulations.However, further miniaturization to the nano-scale is still possible, although there are still several severe concerns [23,24], and therefore, the study of the action of grasping a nanoparticle by means of a nano-gripper remains difficult under many points of view.Since, at the nanometric scale, materials behave quite differently from the bulk, understanding the size and shape dependence of physical properties in nanoparticles is a fundamental step towards the design, fabrication, and assembly of materials and devices with predictable behavior. In particular, the mechanical properties of nanoparticles may be of fundamental importance in controlling their performances in specific applications. Mechanical characterization of nanoparticles presents several challenges, it being difficult to prepare isolated nanoparticles on a substrate and to locate one individual nanoparticle. It is even more challenging to apply the required low loads on the nanoparticles, to measure the small deformations produced and to interpret the experimental data. Nano-indentation and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) are two common tools used for the mechanical characterization at the nanoscale level [25][26][27][28].Actually, the contacts between nano-gripper jaws and nanoparticles, with possible mechanical characterization of the nanoparticles, is still a rather unexplored field. Some techniques have been applied by means of AFM [29][30][31] or nano-indenters [32].This investigation presents the feasibility study of a nano-gripper to be used for the mechanical characterization of isolated nanoparticles. Firstly, the synthesis procedure and the morphological characterization by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BE...

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

Cited by 23 publications

References 33 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

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

An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Nanomanipulation of SiO2 Nanoparticles: Design, Fabrication and Feasibility

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