Events Calendar

Title: Control Approaches to Probe-Based Nanomechanical Spectroscopy and High-Speed Topography Imaging of Living Cells

Presented by: Juan Ren

Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Iowa State University

Abstract: Nanoscale morphological characterization and mechanical properties quantification of soft and biological materials play an important role in areas ranging from nanocomposite material synthesis and characterization, cellular mechanics to drug design. Frontier studies in these areas demand the coordination between nanoscale morphological evolution and mechanical behavior variations through simultaneous measurement of these two aspects of properties. Atomic force microscope (AFM) is very promising in achieving such simultaneous measurements at high-speed and broadband owing to its unique capability in applying force stimuli and then, measuring the response at specific locations in a physiologically friendly environment with piconewton force and nanometer spatial resolution. Challenges, however, arise as current AFM systems are unable to account for the complex and coupled dynamics of the measurement system and probe-sample interaction during high-speed imaging and biomechanical measurements. In this talk, I will present the creation of a set of dynamics and control tools to probe-based high-speed imaging and rapid broadband nanomechanical spectroscopy of soft and biological materials. I will also demonstrate the experimental implementation of these approaches in biomedical applications including study of elasticity oscillations of cell membrane under cholesterol treatment, the variation of rate-dependent elastic modulus of cervix cancer cell during the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, and adaptive imaging of prostate cancer cell at over 8 times faster speed.

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