Towards a Method for Peripheral Nervous System Axonal Stiffness Measurements with MEMS-based Microgrippers

Author

Layton, B.E. ; Allen, K.B. ; Myers, K.A. ; Stokes, M.D. ; Baas, P.W.

Author_Institution

Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, PA

fYear

2005

fDate

16-19 March 2005

Firstpage

403

Lastpage

405

Abstract

We present a novel method for measuring axonal axial stiffness in genetically and metabolically challenged peripheral nerve axons using MEMS-based microgrippers. Using microgrippers with an out of plane stiffness of 122 Newtons/meter, we propose to apply up to 1830 muNewtons of force on axons growing in 50 ng/ml 7s nerve growth factor (NGF) for 4-6 days, then replated on untreated 60 mm tissue culture dishes in 7s NGF media at a strain rate of ~0.01s^-1. From this we propose to determine the relative stiffness and growth contributions of both the actin cytoskeleton and the microtubule-dynenin-kinesin cytoskeleton components

Keywords

biological tissues; biomechanics; biomedical measurement; genetics; grippers; micromechanical devices; molecular biophysics; neurophysiology; proteins; 4 to 6 day; MEMS-based microgrippers; actin cytoskeleton; axonal axial stiffness; microtubule-dynenin-kinesin cytoskeleton components; nerve growth factor; peripheral nervous system; strain; tissue culture dishes; Buildings; Capacitive sensors; Computer simulation; Force measurement; Grippers; Nanobioscience; Nerve fibers; Nervous system; Polymers; Proteins;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Neural Engineering, 2005. Conference Proceedings. 2nd International IEEE EMBS Conference on

Conference_Location

Arlington, VA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8710-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CNE.2005.1419644

Filename

1419644