5085.SH.JN - Advanced Nano-Mechanical Characterisation System with Integrated Fluorescence

Award outcome

Description

The University of Sheffield, supported by the Wolfson Light Microscopy Facility (LMF), is seeking the supply, installation and commissioning of a high-throughput nanoindentation platform for the quantitative mechanical characterisation of biological samples and biomaterials. The instrument will provide a centrally managed research resource supporting investigators from across the Faculties of Health, Science and Engineering, together with external academic and industrial collaborators. The system will enable the measurement of mechanical properties across a broad range of biological specimens including single cells, organoids, tissue sections, extracellular matrices, biomaterials and engineered tissues. The University requires an integrated platform capable of combining high-resolution nanoindentation with optical microscopy and environmental control to permit long-term measurements of live biological samples under physiologically relevant conditions. The instrument must also support high-throughput experimentation using standard multi-well plate formats to facilitate large-scale mechanobiology studies and drug screening. The system shall be supplied as a complete turnkey solution including the nanoindentation platform, integrated optical imaging system, environmental control module, acquisition and analysis software, computer workstation, installation, commissioning and user training. Particular emphasis will be placed on systems that provide high measurement sensitivity, broad mechanical measurement capability, compatibility with live-cell imaging workflows and the flexibility to support future research developments.