Objective To simulate the mechanical environment of cells in vivo and study cellular signal transduction mechanisms. Methods A device was developed which could provide high cell yield, control the time, strain magnitude, direction and frequency of stretch, and applied 10% cyclic strain to cell culture substrate with stretch frequency at 1Hz. Results After being stretched, morphology and cytoskeleton of cells were altered. The major axis of cells and the alignment of stress fibers were vertical to the orientation of cyclic stretch. Conclusion This device provides versatile options for the study on the cellular responses of mechanical loading.

This paper presents an ultrasonic blood densito meter for dynamic measuring blood density. Compared with traditional blood densi tometer, the ultrasonic blood densitometer has the advantages of high precision, fast response and little sampleetc.