Abstract
A technique to attach muscle cells to artificial micro mechanical systems was studied using dog body hair and rat primary skeletal muscle. Muscle-powered cantilever for microtweezers were fabricated which consisted of a single strand of hair for the skeleton and differentiated myotubes for the actuator. The three-dimensional mechanical part of the microtweezers was fabricated using a focused ion beam-induced ion milling technique. The micro hair skeleton was used as a scaffold for the muscular cells and the mechanical structure. Electrical stimulation induced related contraction of the myotubes and displacement of the muscle-powered cantilever of the microtweezers, although the displacement was not yet enough for useful microtools.
