Packaging and characterization of mechanically actuated microtweezers for biomedical applications

Abstract

This paper presents the successful design, fabrication, and packaging of a mechanically actuated micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) microtweezer, and its use in a variety of biological environments. This complete and low cost MEMS system has minimal manufacturing complexity and it can be augmented to any standard micromanipulator or positioning system. Characterization of the system shows that precise and controlled tool actuation is achieved with maximal tip closing forces of 367 mN. The system's performance and ease of use can provide the means to create and enhance a multitude of experimental preparations previously not possible.

Analysis and Experiment of MEMS Based Microdroplet Ejector by a Piezoelectric Stack Actuator in Microfluidic Application

“…Each pump die has 5 access ports: one input port, one output port (interchangeable) and three actuation ports (Han et al, 2006) for the input/output valves and the pump chamber. O-rings (Wester et al, 2009) help seal the pump die ports against the testing platform. The final process flow corresponds to a set of 8 masks and the CAD (Nisar et al, 2008) layout shown in Fig.…”