Printable low-cost, sustained and dynamic cell stretching apparatus: thesis report

Cell stretching has been used in modern medicine as a way of treating injury and determining cell properties since the late 1980s. It has always been an expensive and specialised process, performed only in specific laboratories. The high initial setup cost prevents many laboratories from engaging in such research. This paper explores the development and manufacturing of a low cost bi-directional static and dynamic cell-stretching device. The device was developed to function as a low cost economical solution for modern laboratory equivalents. The device underwent stress and acceleration tests with consistent results and strain calculations to show the reliability and consistency of the device. The device was constructed out of 3D printed PLA and controlled through two stepper motors with open source Arduino programming. This enabled the devices to be produced for under AU$400, making it both an economical and sustainable way of producing laboratory experiments. Testing the device has shown that it is more than capable of producing the necessary precision and accuracy to be used in live cell experiments. The primary objective of this research is to confirm the work done by Samer Toume, Amit Gefen and Daphne Weihs in the 2016 research article "Printable low-cost, sustained and dynamic cell stretching apparatus". This paper has confirmed the accuracy and legitimacy of their research along with some improvement on the original design to allow it to be adapted to new test conditions.