Mechanical properties of bio-actuator made of muscle fiber stretched by magnetic force

Abstract

Bio-actuators have been attracting interests for their inherent advantages comparing with traditional actuators, like ability to work in micro-nano size, silence, and low heat emission. Along with the progress in the fabrication and evaluation of the bio-actuators, it was realized that a fixation method was required to stretch the muscle tissue to promote its differentiation and to evaluate the mechanical properties by tensile experiment. However, the traditional fixation methods like glue, jig structure and vacuum have problems such as stress concentration to muscle tissue, and difficult and time-consuming manipulation to muscle tissue. To overcome this difficulty, we fabricated magnetic ends on both sides of the microfiber, therefore the magnetic force could be used to manipulate the muscle fiber, to achieve stretch and evaluation of the mechanical properties of the muscle fiber.