Durable and cost-effective 3-D microforce sensor for musical tuning enhanced micro palpation of biological entities

This paper presents our development of highly sensitive and durable 3-D microforce sensors for our musical tuning enhanced in-vitro micro palpation system that will help to intuitively and interactively identify (by hearing) the mechanical signature or bio-marker of biological entities, including cells, embryos, tissues, and organs. During the implementation, the sensor serves as “tactile stethoscope” that be able to access the surface of biological entity and measures its mechanical properties and changes. These measurements are then converted into 88-key piano musical voices for hearing and identification in real time. Experimental results demonstrate the performance of the developed microforce sensors, as well successful preliminary in-vitro micro palpation on the fruit vesicles. Our development on the sensors is a major step towards a multimodal, intuitive, and interactive system engineering approach for biomedical studies such as cellular pathology, tissue engineering, plant and animal physiology.