Membrane Micro Emboss (MeME) Process for 3-D Membrane Microdevice

Microrobotic tentacles with spiral bending capability based on shape-engineered elastomeric microtubes

“…The spiraling capability will render the micro-tentacle particularly useful for manipulating fragile or easily deformable objects since it will allow the micro-tentacle to grab and hold a delicate object either by winding around it conformally or by forming a ring that can scoop up the object without squeezing. Thanks to the use of PDMS for its construction and also to its microorganism-level force, our micro-tentacle is fully compliance-matched to biological structures2 and will be ideal for future in vivo biomedical manipulation or surgery78 and endovascular operations1445 where tissue safety holds the highest priority.…”

“…Elastomer-based soft-robots are gaining popularity as safe handlers of delicate objects123456 For applications like in vivo biomedical manipulation78910, efforts have been underway for their microscale miniaturization as well1011121314151617 but finding efficient actuators for microscale soft-robots remains a difficult task91819202122232425 Pneumatic actuation is a good candidate with its simplicity and efficiency already proven in large-scale soft-robotics52627 but its microscale implementation entails many technical challenges2829 First, current soft-lithographic microfabrication techniques, developed mainly for building planar elastomer structures with low aspect-ratio patterns such as microchannels, are not optimal for constructing three-dimensional, hermetically sealed cavities required for pneumatic actuation. We can still build them by bonding two planar structures1112131430 or employing dissolvable templates31 But the strength and yield of bonding decrease with the length-scale.…”

“…We can still build them by bonding two planar structures1112131430 or employing dissolvable templates31 But the strength and yield of bonding decrease with the length-scale. Dissolving templates often becomes an equally complex task at microscale.…”

“…Spiraling tentacles are widely utilized in nature for grabbing and squeezing objects. There have been continuous soft-robotic efforts to mimic them with pneumatic tube actuators3233 but the life-like, multi-turn spiraling motion has been reproduced only by centimeter-scale tentacles so far534 At millimeter- and sub-millimeter scales, they could bend only up to a single-turn12143135 Since the bending arises from the mismatch in the elongation levels of the tube’s top and bottom sides, it can be amplified into spiraling through mismatch enhancement. At macroscale, it is typically done with bi-elastomeric composite structures5 or highly modulated surface corrugations34 Neither is, however, easy to implement at microscale.…”

Formation of three-dimensional Parylene C structures via thermoforming

“…Specifically within biomedical applications, thermoforming of different polymers (e.g. polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, polylactic acid) has allowed for successful, mass-scale, repeatable production of lab-on-a-chip as well as other in vitro microfluidic systems [2][3][4][5].…”