Micro Nano Technology Research Group
UIUC Homepage
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Illiniois at Urbana-Champagin

Saturday, May 17, 2008

MNTR Research Focus Slide Show

1 Intro | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

MNTR Research Focus

Hair Cell – A Biological Mechanoreceptor

The biological haircell is a neuron (note: it is not the hair that grows on our heads) that can receive mechanical input (called a mechanoreceptor).  A haircell consists of a hair (cilium) attached to a neuron.  The haircell is a modular building block responsible for hearing, flow sensing and vibration sensing  in many animal species.