MEMS Biomimetic Superficial and Canal Neuromasts for Flow Sensing

Neuromast sensors found in fishes detect flows around their body and are known to generate hydrodynamic awareness. This work reports the development of superficial neuromast (SN) and canal neuromast (CN) inspired MEMS flow sensors. The MEMS artificial neuromast sensors mimic the key features of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kottapalli, Ajay Giri Prakash, Sengupta, Debarun, Kanhere, Elgar, Bora, Meghali, Miao, Jianmin, Triantafyllou, Michael S
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Format: Article
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119446
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4960-7060
Description
Summary:Neuromast sensors found in fishes detect flows around their body and are known to generate hydrodynamic awareness. This work reports the development of superficial neuromast (SN) and canal neuromast (CN) inspired MEMS flow sensors. The MEMS artificial neuromast sensors mimic the key features of the SN and the CN such as the shape and the mechanical properties of the cupula. In case of both SN and CN MEMS sensors, hydrogels with varying initiator concentrations were used to replicate the Young’s modulus of the biological cupula. The MEMS SN and CN sensors were experimentally characterized in steady-state and oscillatory flows respectively. Keywords: Superficial Neuromasts (SNs); Canal Neuromasts (CNs); MEMS; biomimetics; flow sensing