Low-Cost Manipulator and Mini-Tool System for Submillimeter Biomedical Samples

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Merits: The general aim is to develop a low-cost all-mechanical manual manipulator & mini-tool system that addresses demonstrated needs in biomedical research for dynamic operations on small biological specimens in the size range of 0.01 to 1 mm. Examples include: dissecting small organs (cell assemblages) of tissue samples from plants or animals; isolating bands from electrophoresis gels, or parts of chromosomes; sorting and picking nanofossils; separation of single small organisms from complex environmental samples, for genomic analysis. The goal is to produce an effective robust system that would benefit a broad user community, and would be affordable. The general approach will be to exploit commercial technologies for: commercial small tools for vitreoretinal surgery inside human eyes, including millimeter-scale scissors & forceps of many styles; metal bellows, to drive a miniature remote control hydraulic actuator for the vitreoretinal mini-tools; pantograph manual micromanipulators, which have special advantages for dynamic operations; and a movable base that uses 2 arc-shaped tracks, places the specimen and tool at the center of a spherical-coordinate space, and thereby allows the pose of a tool to be reoriented over a large range of angles. These tools, actuator, manipulator, and base together will form a complete low-cost all-mechanical system for performing common dynamic operations on microscopic specimens from several realms of biomedical research. A price tag below $2000 is a goal. The PI has developed an innovative approach to improving pantograph manipulators, to make them capable of 50x reduction of hand motion, a >10x improvement over current designs which allow only 4x motion reduction. Project Management: The PI will carry out specific aims #1 & 6, to evaluate different styles & brands of commercial vitreoretinal instrument tips, and to test on biological tissues the functionality of products. Evaluations would be incorporated into optimized products. Aims 2,3,4,&5, involving design and fabrication of specific mechanical parts, according to the designs included in this application, will be carried out by commercial contract engineering firms, or by the on-campus mechanical shop in the Dept. of Physics & Astronomy at Ohio University. Broader Impacts: This project may lead to patentable products that could be commercialized. Another aim is to extend the careers of skilled researchers who may lose the ability to carry out research involving manual manipulation of biological samples, e.g. with age. 7 The project will provide attractive interdisciplinary educational and training opportunities for the engineering or physics undergraduate student to be hired.