Figure 5.

A, Schematic diagram showing set‐up of a traction force microscopy experiment using fibrinogen passivated hydrogel of known stiffness embedded with of fiducial marker microbeads; B, Resting platelets are seeded low densities on the fibrinogen passivated hydrogel surface. Upon thrombin stimulation, activated platelets adhere, spread, and ultimately contract resulting in generation of “traction forces” over the entire process. These forces exert mechanical tension on the hydrogel that leads to displacement of embedded microbeads. These displacements can be precisely imaged and tracked overtime with a fluorescence microscope. Post‐image acquisition, image‐processing algorithms are used to compute displacement fields that provide spatial and temporal dynamics of platelet generated traction forces