Title: LUM-driven micromanipulator for cell wall perforation

Authors: Ran-Ran Geng; Zhi-Yuan Yao; James K. Mills

Addresses: State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 29 Yudao Street, Nanjing 210016, China ' State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 29 Yudao Street, Nanjing 210016, China ' Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Rd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Abstract: Cell manipulation is a key technique in biotechnology today and micromanipulators are indispensable for cell manipulations. This paper presents a 3-DOF micromanipulator used for cell wall perforation which is driven by linear ultrasonic motors (LUM). The proposed micromanipulator realises a large operational workspace space as well as high precision, due to the significant advantages of LUM actuators. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to simulate the vibration characteristics of the motors and platforms. The driving control system consists of a closed-loop system and a position feedback module, which can regulate the displacement and velocity in collaboration with the host computer. The motion stroke and displacement resolution of the micromanipulator are 80 mm × 80 mm × 30 mm and 50 nm respectively. The experiments show that the position precision is less than 0.36 µm, which is sufficiently accurate for cell manipulations. Single cell perforation experiments illustrate that this micromanipulator is useful in micro/nano biological manipulations.

Keywords: micromanipulators; linear ultrasonic motors; LUM actuators; finite element analysis; FEA; precision positioning; cell perforation; cell manipulation; biotechnology; simulation; vibration characteristics; driving control; microrobots; robot control; manipulator control; velocity; motion stroke; displacement resolution; biological manipulations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMA.2015.075946

International Journal of Mechatronics and Automation, 2015 Vol.5 No.2/3, pp.86 - 91

Received: 14 Mar 2015
Accepted: 15 Apr 2015

Published online: 18 Apr 2016 *

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