Muscle-on-a-Chip: A Self-Healing Actuator Platform in Robotic Systems

Abstract

The regulation of muscle function is very important for tissue engineering and sports science. This paper presents a simple microfluidic chip platform and its control method to investigate the regulation of muscle function. By employing C2C12 cells as the model system for skeletal muscle research, these cells were inoculated onto the microfluidic chips and induced to differentiate into fully functional muscle tubes. Programmable actuation control enables localized strain gradients within the microfluidic platform, achieving differential mechanical regimes for functional modulation of integrated muscle constructs. The system implements mechanical conditioning to recapitulate exercise-induced myocyte damage and subsequent regenerative processes through controlled deformation protocols. Our radial-strain actuators generate 19.4% maximum principal strain, while axial-strain configurations achieve 8.3% baseline deformation. Dynamic input modulation enables precise strain reduction to 7.4% and 2.2%, respectively establishing differential mechanical regimes for simulating exercise-associated functional impairment (high-strain phase) and recovery processes (low-strain phase). This strain-programmable platform establishes a robust framework for investigating mechanobiological thresholds in functional muscle regeneration.