Biomedical Engineering – From Theory to Applications

478
Load F (μN)
Parallel-oriented
model
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 5 10 15 20
Cell deformation D (μm)
Biomedical Engineering – From Theory to Applications
Experiments (n = 10)
Randomly oriented model
Perpendicularly oriented model
No CSK model
Fig. 9. Load-deformation curves obtained from the simulation and experimental system
(n = 10).
Stiffness S (N/m)
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20
Cell deformation D (μm)
Fig. 10. Changes in cell stiffness of a model with randomly oriented CSKs with cell
deformation.
An increase in the cell stiffness with cell elongation is manifested from Fig. 10 that illustrates
the cell stiffness (S) of a model with randomly oriented CSKs between 0–5, 5–10, 10–15, and
15–20 μm deformation (D). The cell stiffness (S) increased by ~1.5-fold as the cell
deformation (D) increased from 0 to 15 µm, while decreases were evident if the cell was
stretched further.
The increase in cell stiffness with cell elongation is explained by the realignment of CSKs.
Figure 11 provides a histogram of the existence probability of the orientation angles (Pθ)