Adaptation of flexible polymer fabrication to cellular mechanics study

Polymeric material has been utilized as mechanical sensors to measure microscopic cellular forces. Since many polymers are not readily compatible with conventional lithography, fabrication of numerous molds is inevitably a part of the process, compromising low cost and process simplicity. In this letter, we apply a flexible fabrication process to manufacture polymeric mechanical sensors with various aspect ratios from a single rigid mold. A proof-of-principle measurement was carried out in isolated cardiac myocytes. The results conform to the physiologic behavior. This approach has the potential for evaluation of mechanical interaction between various biological units and the substrates while minimizing the fabrication cost and complexity.