Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

We request a Cantisens Research Cantilever Sensor Array System to support our long-term and short-term objectives of understanding and quantifying the microfluidic - structural interactions in a closed environment on micro-nano cantilever based systems. We rely on using this equipment as a crucial equipment tool to characterize the microfluidic-structural interactions and also to support the research thesis work of many of our graduate students who have started their research in this area. We believe that understanding of microfluidic-structural interactions is very fundamental and critical to the realization of micro or micro-nano integrated devices for biological, cellular and chemical studies involving fluids. This study becomes essential and complementary for our engineers working in the areas of microsystems, microfluidics, dynamics under fluidic environment, application of micro-nano integrated systems for bio and chemical applications, and for our biologists working in characterizing cellular and molecular interactions using microstructures. This equipment will facilitate even the in vitro characterization of bio interactions at cellular levels. As the test will be conducted in a closed microfluidic environment, we will be able to carry out the experiments in the native environments needed for the applications. We will use this equipment to (i) study static and dynamic behaviour of micro or micro-nano integrated structures under closed microfluidic environment (ii) quantify the effect of fluid properties on device performance (iii) study the bio-mechanical interaction at molecular and cellular levels in in-vitro and closed environments (iv) conduct visual study on microfluidic-bio-structural interactions (v) study the influence of temperature dependent properties. The proposed equipment is critically required for meeting our long term and short term research objectives in addition to the completion of many of our graduate students' theses.