The mechanical properties of brain tissue play a pivotal role in neurodevelopment and neurological disorders. Yet, at present, there is no consensus on how the different structural parts of the tissue contribute to its stiffness variations. Here, we have gathered depth-controlled indentation viscoelasticity maps of the hippocampus of acute horizontal live mouse brain slices. Our results confirm the highly viscoelestic nature of brain tissue. We further show that the mechanical properties are non-uniform and at least related to differences in morphological composition. Interestingly, areas with higher nuclear density appear to be softer than areas with lower nuclear density.

We present a novel device that allows the user to measure the Young Modulus of a material at the opening of a 5 mm diameter needle. The device relies on a miniaturized cantilever spring mounted at the end of the needle and interrogated via Fabry-Pérot optical fiber interferometry. The probe is repetitively brought in and out of contact with the sample at the end of the needle by means of a steel cable that is controlled via a piezoelectric actuator located at the proximal end. We demonstrate the ability of our device to detect and quantify layers of varying stiffness during needle insertion in a gelatin phantom and to successfully locate tissue boundaries in bovine liver tissue embedded in gelatin.

We introduce an experimental calibration method for force transducers with interferometric readout. The head of the transducer is compressed on the pan of a weighing scale until the first maximum of interference is reached. An optomechanical feedback loop makes sure that the force applied remains constant during the integration time of the weighing scale. At the end of the integration time, the transducer is forced to move to the next maximum of interference, where it is again locked into position to allow the user to read the corresponding increase in weight on the scale. Repeating a similar procedure for a series of consecutive maximum-to-maximum steps, one can finally plot the weight indicated by the scale as a function of the displacement of the head of the transducer, and, from there, extract its spring constant. The method relies only on measurements of weights and laser wavelengths, both of which can be, in principle, referred to metrological standards.

Experiments regarding the mechanical properties of soft tissues mostly rely on data collected on specimens that are extracted from their native environment. During the extraction and in the time period between the extraction and the completion of the measurements, however, the specimen may undergo structural changes which could generate unwanted artifacts. To further investigate the role of mechanics in physiology and possibly use it in clinical practices, it is thus of paramount importance to develop instruments that could measure the viscoelastic response of a tissue without necessarily excising it. Tantalized by this opportunity, we have designed a minimally invasive micro-indenter that is able to probe the mechanical response of soft tissues, in situ, via an 18G needle. Here, we discuss its working principle and validate its usability by mapping the viscoelastic properties of a complex, confined sample, namely, the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disc. Our findings show that the mechanical properties of a biological tissue in its local environment may be indeed different than those that one would measure after excision, and thus confirm that, to better understand the role of mechanics in life sciences, one should always perform minimally invasive measurements like those that we have here introduced.

A range of complex percutaneous procedures, such as biopsy or regional anesthesia, rely heavily on accurate needle insertion. Small variations in the mechanical properties of the pierced tissue can however cause deviations from the projected needle path and can thus result in inaccurate placement of the needle. Navigation of a rigid needle towards the target tissue is traditionally based on the surgeons capacity to interpret small variations in the needle insertion force. A more accurate measurement of these small force variations enables improvement in needle targeting, can potentially aid in enhancing force feedback in robotic needle placement and can provide valuable information on tissue-tool interaction. In this study we investigated several concepts for the design of a force sensor based on a fiber-optic Fabry-Pérot interferometer to measure needle-tissue interaction forces on the tip of a 18 G needle, where special attention was given to concepts for a sensor with (1), an intrinsic low cross-sensitivity to temperature and (2), elementary design and fabrication. Three concepts, using either a quartz capillary, an Invar capillary or a thin polyimide film as the force sensitive element were prototyped and subjected to both static and dynamic testing. The force transducer based on a quartz capillary presented the lowest cross-sensitivity to temperature (12 normalmnormalN/∘C) and good accuracy (maximum measurement error of 65 normalmnormalN/10 N) in a measurement of static forces. However, limited strength of the sensor is expected to prevent usage of the quartz capillary in small diameter needles. The concepts for a sensor based on an Invar capillary or a thin polyimide film proved a higher cross-sensitivity to temperature (50 normalmnormalN/∘C and 220 normalmnormalN/∘C, respectively) and higher maximum measurement error (350 normalmnormalN/10 N, 800 normalmnormalN/10 N), comparable to those of FBG-based sensors reported in literature, but are likely to be more suitable for integration in very small biopsy needles.

Mechanical loading is inherently related to the function and degeneration of the intervertebral disc. We present a series of experiments aimed at measuring the effect of a loading/unloading cycle of the intervertebral disc on the mechanical properties of the nucleus pulposus. The study relies on our new minimally invasive microindenter, which allows us to quantify the storage and loss moduli of the nucleus pulposus by inserting an optomechanical probe in an intact (resected) intervertebral disk through the annulus fibrosis via a small needle. Our results indicate that, under the influence of compressive loading, the nucleus pulposus exhibits a more solid‐like behavior.

We present a fabrication procedure for batch production of MEMS devices directly on top of an optical fiber. The procedure relies on the approach introduced earlier by our group (Gavan et al 2011 Opt. Lett. 36 2898–900), which has been optimized here to obtain higher yield and increased reliability. We describe in details the eight steps of the procedure and we show its application to the fabrication of several cantilever-based structures. Overall, we report a process yield of 80% functioning MEMS devices in our final batch.

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