Characterization of micro/nano-rheology properties of soft and biological matter combined with a virtual reality haptic exploration

Claudie Petit , Marwene Kechiche , Ioan-Alexandru Ivan , Rosario Toscano (1) , Valentine Bolcato , Emmanuelle Planus (2) , Florence Marchi (3)

1 LTDS - Laboratoire de Tribologie et Dynamique des Systèmes
2 INSERM U823 - Institut d'oncologie/développement Albert Bonniot de Grenoble
3 NEEL - NOF - Nano-Optique et Forces

Science education is often limited by the complexity of making acute knowledge accessible and easily remembered by a larger public. We proposed another way to introduce and teach complex scientific subjects like cell biology and polymer micro-rheology using haptic display and virtual reality. We combined the advantages of the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Fluorescence Microscopy (FM) in order to get complementary real experimental data on an isolated animal adhering on a protein micro-pattern. We obtained high resolution mapping images of the cell morphology, architecture, and local mechanical properties. Then this set of data was implemented in a free simulation engine connected to a low-cost haptic device to create a virtual and interactive cell or polymer environment in order to provide a novel sensory approach of the cell biology and/or micro(bio)mechanics.

Mots clés: Nanomechanics; haptic; micro-robot

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique; Matériaux; Automatique / Robotique

Claudie Petit, Marwene Kechiche, Ioan-Alexandru Ivan, Rosario Toscano, Valentine Bolcato, et al.. Characterization of micro/nano-rheology properties of soft and biological matter combined with a virtual reality haptic exploration. 2019 International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS), Jul 2019, Helsinki, Finland. ⟨10.1109/MARSS.2019.8860978⟩. ⟨hal-02141911⟩