Development of Portable Insect Treadmill for Optical Imaging of Walking Fruit Flies Using Stereomicroscope
Disciplines
Computer-Aided Engineering and Design | Electro-Mechanical Systems | Mechanical Engineering
Abstract (300 words maximum)
One way of observing the behavior and movement of walking insects, a locomotion compensator, nullifies the movement of the insects to create a controlled environment for observation. This allows for uninterrupted monitoring of the subject without restriction from a tether. Specifically with the Drosophila Melanogaster (fruit fly), this instrument in conjunction with a stereomicroscope can be used to observe the neural activity of fruit flies genetically edited to produce fluorescent proteins in the brain. However, typically these instruments provide little to no modularity, space efficiency, and portability. The overall purpose of this research is to design and develop a portable insect treadmill that can be integrated with the stereomicroscope. To achieve this, we conceptualized design ideas, used the 3D modeling software SolidWorks to fabricate the design, iterated and improved prototypes, and developed an effective motor control system to operate the locomotion compensator. Our results highlight the portability of our system compared to prior versions, the efficacy of the control mechanisms, and a potential application of the instrument to observe the neural activity of the fruit fly.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
SPCEET - Mechanical Engineering
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dal Hyung Kim
Development of Portable Insect Treadmill for Optical Imaging of Walking Fruit Flies Using Stereomicroscope
One way of observing the behavior and movement of walking insects, a locomotion compensator, nullifies the movement of the insects to create a controlled environment for observation. This allows for uninterrupted monitoring of the subject without restriction from a tether. Specifically with the Drosophila Melanogaster (fruit fly), this instrument in conjunction with a stereomicroscope can be used to observe the neural activity of fruit flies genetically edited to produce fluorescent proteins in the brain. However, typically these instruments provide little to no modularity, space efficiency, and portability. The overall purpose of this research is to design and develop a portable insect treadmill that can be integrated with the stereomicroscope. To achieve this, we conceptualized design ideas, used the 3D modeling software SolidWorks to fabricate the design, iterated and improved prototypes, and developed an effective motor control system to operate the locomotion compensator. Our results highlight the portability of our system compared to prior versions, the efficacy of the control mechanisms, and a potential application of the instrument to observe the neural activity of the fruit fly.