Application of Mimosa Pudica Mechanoreceptors to Electronic Skin Design
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Date
2015-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Mechanoreceptor cells in Mimosa Pudica – a plant known for its rapid leaf movements when touched – can be used as a possible tactile sensor to create a flexible, high-resolution electronic skin. To test the viability of this solution, mechanoreceptor cells have been incorporated into a hydrogel to ensure their mechanosensitive properties are retained after isolation. Gelling agent is used to solidify a culture of the mechanosensitive cells onto a microelectrode array. This allows the monitoring of electrical responses to an applied mechanical stimulus. It is shown that more experimentation must be done in order to prove that these cells do retain their ability to transduce mechanical stimulus into an electrical response, and thus would serve as a viable tool in future electronic skin designs.
Moving forward, calcium imaging will be used to optically characterize the response of the cells in terms of the firing of action potentials upon mechanical stimulation. This will also be used to observe if the cells are in fact firing in response to the stimulus. This will also allow for a specific determination of the cells responsible for the electrical response. Additional tests may be run to test how well the material localizes electrical responses to areas of stimulation by employing multiple channels of the microelectrode array. This simple bio-complex material has the potential to provide the basis for a larger scale, complex electronic skin that may be used in tactile sensing prosthetics, soft robotics, and smart materials.
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Keywords
Electronic Skin, Biomaterials, Cell Isolation, Electrophysiology, Mimosa Pudica