Design and Fabrication of a Dielectric Elastomer Actuator for Organ-on-Chips Platforms

Cell behavior in vitro can be regulated by mechanical stimulation. Cytostretch is an Organ-on-Chip (OOC) platform that allows cyclic stretching tissue in culture. Its pneumatic actuation can hinder it from microfluidic systems integration. A dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) was developed and fabricated in this thesis for Cytostretch as an...