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Mark BradfordKevin Feeley
Tony MartinelliJeff Snyder
Jacob Stephens
Our sponsor sought a device capable of recreating in vivo conditions on cell cultures.
This device applies the mechanical stresses and strains that a particular type of cell culture would encounter within the body.
There is a device available commercially for this purpose; however, it is prohibitively expensive.
The purpose of this project was to design an alternative that is less expensive, thus enabling more researchers access to this type of machine.
Must be considerably less expensive to manufacture
Must use standard well plates Must be computer controlled Must fit in an incubator Must tolerate humidity up to 100% Must be easy to use Must allow easy access to well plate Must measure forces applied to cultures Must measure displacement applied to
cultures Must have high repeatability
Several concepts were brainstormed All concepts accomplish same functions
but with different components Those components included the clipping
mechanism, driver, and type of well plate
Figure 1: Clipping Mechanism Concept
One of these concepts is sketched below
Figure 2: Concept 2
The clips secure the membrane to the stretch plate
The version shown below was determined to be the most user-friendly, while accomplishing their primary function
Figure 3: Solid Model of the Clip
The stretch plate transfers force from the driver to the membranes
The final version is designed for standard 8-well plates
Figure 4: Solid Model of Stretch Plates
The base constrains the stretch plate and holds the well plate in place
It was also designed to allow easy removal of the well plate
Figure 5: Base with mounting sub-assembly
The driver in the final design was picked to be a linear actuator
The driver provides force to stretch the membrane
Figure 6: RRA-23 Linear Actuator
Two sensors were needed, one that measured force and the other to measure displacement
The force sensor was a Load Cell strain gage, and the displacement sensor was a Baumer Inductive sensor
Figure 7: Strain Gage
Figure 8: Baumer Inductive Sensor
The machine needs to be computer controlled, and use software that is easy to use
National Instruments’ LabVIEW was chosen
CONCEPTS FINAL DESIGN
Clips Used staples or screwed-
down clamp Well Plates
Used 6-well or 8-well plates Driver
Used solenoid or piezoelectric motors
Base Requires removal of
stretch plate to access well plate
Clips Uses ridged clamps
Well Plates Uses 8-well plates
Driver Uses electric linear
actuator Base
Well plate can be removed without touching stretch plate
A prototype was produced, but a production run would use different materials
Of particular interest are the polymers whose resins are commercially available through Solvay. They provide the necessary mechanical properties and environmental stability needed for this product.
The displacement sensor may need to be replaced with a more accurate linear laser sensor
The motor might interfere with the force sensor’s signal and may need replacement
We would like to thank Cook Biotech, Dr. Omar El-Mounayri, Dr. Hazim El-Mounayri, and Mr. Rudy Earlson.