Design and Fabrication of a Polymer MEMS Cell Force Sensor for Measuring Single Cell Biomechanics

N. Ferrell, J. Woodard, and D. Hansford (USA)

Keywords

BioMEMS, cell forces, polymer microfabricatioin, finite element analysis

Abstract

The design, analysis, and fabrication of a polymer micro cantilever array for measurement of spatially resolved cellular adhesion forces are presented. The simple soft lithography fabrication method offers an alternative to standard silicon-based micro-cantilevers for sensor applications. Sacrificial layers were fabricated using photolithography and oxygen plasma reactive ion etching. A modified micro-transfer molding (µTM) method was used for fabrication of polymer cantilever arrays. The fabrication is simple, cost effective, and could potentially be industrialized for high scale sensor production. Finite element analysis of sensor designs was used to predict force/deflection characteristics to ensure device functionality.

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