A Highly Reproducible SU-8 Cantilever Platform with Integrated Strain Sensor Fabricated via Deep RIE for Quantitative Mechanical Sensing
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Drug-induced cardiotoxicity is a major cause of failure in drug development during clinical trials, which thereforenecessitates reliable in vitro evaluation methods. Polymer cantilevers have emerged as promising tools for measuring cardiomyocytecontractility. However, their low fabrication reproducibility has limited their application in high-throughput screening. In this study,we present an SU-8 cantilever platform integrated with a metal strain sensor for precise monitoring of cardiomyocyte contraction. The platform is fabricated using conventional microfabrication techniques, utilizing an SU-8 photoresist as the structural material dueto its low Young’s modulus (~2 GPa) and high biocompatibility. To improve fabrication precision and yield, a deep reactive ion etching(DRIE) process was employed to uniformly release twelve cantilevers from a single chip. This approach significantly improvedthroughput and reduced process time. Each cantilever integrates a strain sensor configured in a Wheatstone bridge circuit, enablingreal-time detection of mechanical deformations caused by cardiac contraction. Performance evaluation confirmed the sensor’s stability,with a measured gauge factor of 2.09 and consistent displacement resolution down to 10 µm across all devices. These resultsdemonstrate excellent reproducibility and uniform sensing characteristics. The proposed platform offers a reliable solution for accurate,high-throughput in vitro screening of drug-induced cardiotoxicity.
Abstract
Drug-induced cardiotoxicity is a major cause of failure in drug development during clinical trials, which thereforenecessitates reliable in vitro evaluation methods. Polymer cantilevers have emerged as promising tools for measuring cardiomyocytecontractility. However, their low fabrication reproducibility has limited their application in high-throughput screening. In this study,we present an SU-8 cantilever platform integrated with a metal strain sensor for precise monitoring of cardiomyocyte contraction. The platform is fabricated using conventional microfabrication techniques, utilizing an SU-8 photoresist as the structural material dueto its low Young’s modulus (~2 GPa) and high biocompatibility. To improve fabrication precision and yield, a deep reactive ion etching(DRIE) process was employed to uniformly release twelve cantilevers from a single chip. This approach significantly improvedthroughput and reduced process time. Each cantilever integrates a strain sensor configured in a Wheatstone bridge circuit, enablingreal-time detection of mechanical deformations caused by cardiac contraction. Performance evaluation confirmed the sensor’s stability,with a measured gauge factor of 2.09 and consistent displacement resolution down to 10 µm across all devices. These resultsdemonstrate excellent reproducibility and uniform sensing characteristics. The proposed platform offers a reliable solution for accurate,high-throughput in vitro screening of drug-induced cardiotoxicity.