Figure 4.

Micropost sensor array. A. (a) Microposts that are distributed on a silicone elastomer base. (b) Bending of microposts by a cell residing on top of the microposts (adapted with permission from Figures 5 and 6 in [42]). B. A single micropost. It functions as a cantilever beam and deflects under a pointed force (F), which represents a CTF. C. CTF calculation. When the deflection is small, the beam theory can be used to obtain a linear relationship between CTF and the deflection, or the displacement at the top of the micropost. When CTF is large, a non-linear relation between CTF and displacement has to be used for an accurate determination of the CTF.