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Micromachines
Special Issues
Microscale Robotics for Cellular and Tissue Engineering
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Microscale Robotics for Cellular and Tissue Engineering

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "B：Biology and Biomedicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2021) | Viewed by 8034

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Kazunori Hoshino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biomedical Engineering Department, University of Connecticut, 260 Glenbrook Rd Unit 3247, Storrs, CT 06269-3247, USA
Interests: microrobotics; force sensors; microscopy; tissue engieering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have opened up an attractive new research field for micromachines and robotics research. There is a growing interest in applying micromachines or robotics approaches to provide quantitative methods to study characteristics of live cells and tissues. Precise measurements aided by robotic tools will greatly promote the understanding of cell and tissue behavior and their functions. Robotic approaches will lead to a reliable fabrication of engineered tissues and organs. The study of supracellular characteristics of 3D micro/mesoscale tissues in the size range of a few hundred micrometers to a few milimeters is an emerging topic of interest. In this special issue, we focus on new studies to advance methodologies for fabrication and/or characterization of cells and tissues. The topics include but are not limited to:

  • Robotics-assisted manipulation of cells and tissues
  • Sensors designed for the study of cells and tissues
  • Design, fabrication and testing of in vitro microenvirionment
  • Computational and image analysis of tissue models
  • 3D printing for micro-meso scale robotics

Dr. Kazunori Hoshino
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Robotics for Tissue Engineering
  • Manipulators
  • Physical sensors
  • Microenvironment
  • Tissues/Organs on a chip

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 6630 KiB  
Article
Design, Fabrication, and Validation of a Petri Dish-Compatible PDMS Bioreactor for the Tensile Stimulation and Characterization of Microtissues
by Soliman Alhudaithy, Sama Abdulmalik, Sangamesh G. Kumbar and Kazunori Hoshino
Micromachines 2020, 11(10), 892; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11100892 - 26 Sep 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3692
Abstract
In this paper, we report on a novel biocompatible micromechanical bioreactor (actuator and sensor) designed for the in situ manipulation and characterization of live microtissues. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an application-targeted sterile bioreactor that is accessible, inexpensive, [...] Read more.
In this paper, we report on a novel biocompatible micromechanical bioreactor (actuator and sensor) designed for the in situ manipulation and characterization of live microtissues. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an application-targeted sterile bioreactor that is accessible, inexpensive, adjustable, and easily fabricated. Our method relies on a simple polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molding technique for fabrication and is compatible with commonly-used laboratory equipment and materials. Our unique design includes a flexible thin membrane that allows for the transfer of an external actuation into the PDMS beam-based actuator and sensor placed inside a conventional 35 mm cell culture Petri dish. Through computational analysis followed by experimental testing, we demonstrated its functionality, accuracy, sensitivity, and tunable operating range. Through time-course testing, the actuator delivered strains of over 20% to biodegradable electrospun poly (D, L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) 85:15 non-aligned nanofibers (~91 µm thick). At the same time, the sensor was able to characterize time-course changes in Young’s modulus (down to 10–150 kPa), induced by an application of isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Furthermore, the actuator delivered strains of up to 4% to PDMS monolayers (~30 µm thick), simultaneously characterizing their elastic modulus up to ~2.2 MPa. The platform repeatedly applied dynamic (0.23 Hz) tensile stimuli to live Human Dermal Fibroblast (HDF) cells for 12 hours (h) and recorded the cellular reorientation towards two angle regimes, with averages of −58.85° and +56.02°. The device biocompatibility with live cells was demonstrated for one week, with no signs of cytotoxicity. We can conclude that our PDMS bioreactor is advantageous for low-cost tissue/cell culture micromanipulation studies involving mechanical actuation and characterization. Our device eliminates the need for an expensive experimental setup for cell micromanipulation, increasing the ease of live-cell manipulation studies by providing an affordable way of conducting high-throughput experiments without the need to open the Petri dish, reducing manual handling, cross-contamination, supplies, and costs. The device design, material, and methods allow the user to define the operational range based on their targeted samples/application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microscale Robotics for Cellular and Tissue Engineering)
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10 pages, 5417 KiB  
Article
Additive Manufacturing of Micromanipulator Mounted on a Glass Capillary for Biological Applications
by Shingo Kozaki, Yukihito Moritoki, Taichi Furukawa, Hikaru Akieda, Tatsuto Kageyama, Junji Fukuda and Shoji Maruo
Micromachines 2020, 11(2), 174; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11020174 - 07 Feb 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3868
Abstract
In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) micromanipulator mounted on a glass capillary is developed for handling biological samples, such as multicellular spheroids and embryos. To fabricate the micromanipulator, we developed an additive manufacturing system based on high-resolution microstereolithography using a 405-nm blue laser. [...] Read more.
In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) micromanipulator mounted on a glass capillary is developed for handling biological samples, such as multicellular spheroids and embryos. To fabricate the micromanipulator, we developed an additive manufacturing system based on high-resolution microstereolithography using a 405-nm blue laser. The fabrication system makes it possible to fabricate 3D microstructures on a glass capillary with 2.5 µm lateral resolution and 25 µm layer thickness. We also demonstrated the capture and release of a spheroid with the micromanipulator fabricated using our additive manufacturing system. We showed that spheroids can be easily handled by a simple operation with minimal damage using a cage-like multiple finger structure. Additive manufacturing of tailor-made micromanipulators mounted on a glass capillary will be useful in biological and tissue engineering research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microscale Robotics for Cellular and Tissue Engineering)
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