2P1-A30 Evaluation of Stiffness Distribution using Comb-Nanoprobes for Biological Specimen

Abstract

In this paper, the novel evaluation of local stiffness distribution for biological organism is presented using comb-nanoprobes. The local stiffness values are important to reveal and evaluate the cell condition depending on health, diagnosis, growth phase, and so on. We have been developed the nanorobotic manipulation system inside an Environmental-Scanning Electron Microscope (E-SEM). The deformation of the biological organism can be observed by E-SEM with real-time imaging. In this paper, the local stiffness distribution of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is evaluated using comb-nanoprobes. We fabricated the comb-type silicon nanoprobes to measure the local stiffness distribution in each C. elegans. We also test the viability of C. elegans inside E-SEM from the motion of C. elegans before and after setting inside the E-SEM.