Design and development of an instrument to measure Piconewton force

The aim of this project is to design and develop the framework of a Piconewton Force Transducer (PFT) to be experimentally used at Macquarie University. More specifically a unique and specifically tailored optical tweezer device is designed and developed to allow for measuring the stiffness of cells and other micrometre sized objects or biological specimens. In order to achieve this, all all components and subsystems of the framework had to be very accurately modelled in CAD throughout all stages of the design process to ensure the correct layout and alignment of the device. To show the full functionality of the device an alignment of calibration procedure is completed to validate that the device is ready to be experimentally used. The main problem faced within this project was the lack of funding to create a framework that could be entirely designed and constructed using purchased optical mounts. Due to this lack of funding, an alternate design was developed and generated through extensive research and a thorough understanding of the requirements of each individual component. This process determined which components of the framework could be CAD modelled and 3D printed as a replacement to using purchased optical mounts, without sacrificing any functionality or accuracy of the device.