The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 31, 2015
Filed:
Aug. 28, 2008
Ramaswamy Krishnan, Cambridge, MA (US);
Chan Young Park, Cambridge, MA (US);
Jeffrey Fredberg, Sharon, MA (US);
Fei Liu, Warwick, RI (US);
Justin Mih, Mission Hill, MA (US);
Daniel Tschumperlin, Norfolk, MA (US);
Ramaswamy Krishnan, Cambridge, MA (US);
Chan Young Park, Cambridge, MA (US);
Jeffrey Fredberg, Sharon, MA (US);
Fei Liu, Warwick, RI (US);
Justin Mih, Mission Hill, MA (US);
Daniel Tschumperlin, Norfolk, MA (US);
President and Fellows of Harvard College, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
Embodiments provide techniques for measuring and characterizing the dynamics of cell traction forces. Tunable elastic gel substrates can be disposed in multi-well plates. The gels can be of a uniform predetermined thickness. A multi-well plate can be loaded with gels of different shear moduli. An array of punch indenters can be attached to a loading platen such that the each indenter is aligned to a gel substrate. The indenters can apply tensile or compressive strains to the gel substrates. The magnitude, duration, and frequency of the strain can be controlled by a motor assembly coupled to a control system. The apparatus can be disposed in an incubator for long term cell culture experiments. The cell culture can be observed while a strain is applied. A ring-shaped indenter can be mounted on a microscope, coaxial to the objective lens, and lowered by a calibrated amount onto the underlying gel.