A micropillar-based on-chip system for continuous force measurement of C. elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans is a well-established model organism and has been gaining interest particularly related to worm locomotion and the investigation of the relationship between muscle arms and the motion pattern of the nematode. In this paper, we report on a micropillar-based on-chip system which is capable of quantifying multi-point locomotive forces of a moving C. elegans. A Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) device was microfabricated to allow C. elegans to move in a matrix of micropillars in a channel, and an image processing method was developed to resolve the worm force from the bending pillars. The current micropillar-based system is able to measure force with a resolution of 2.07 µN for body width of 80 µm. Initial experiments have been conducted to collect a maximum force level for thirteen wild type worm samples. A maximum force level of 61.94 µN was observed from 1571 data points, based on which an average maximum force level was 32.61 µN for multi-point measurements. The demonstrated capabilities of the system can be an enabling technology that allows biologist to gain a better understanding of subtle force patterns of C. elegans and worm muscle development.

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