Cardiac Muscle-cell Based Actuator and Self-stabilizing Biorobot – PART 1

The overall goal of this video is to describe how to develop and characterize a biological actuator using flexible PDMS cantilevers in cardiomyocytes. These actuators are then incorporated with a modified base to form a self-stabilizing swimming biorobot. The verification method described here is unique, wherein the mechanical base structure is modified to form a self-stabilizing swimming biorobot whose position can be also determined externally with magnets.

The main advantage of this technique is that the base properties can be easily altered to tune the buoyancy of the device and for self-stabilization. The method can be applied to develop other novel devices which would require self-stabilizations and flotation. Generally, individuals new to this method will struggle because mechanically deforming the cantilevers is challenging.