Nanoscale Acoustic Oscillator for Mechanoimmunology: NAOMI

Mechanoimmunology provides a powerful framework for understanding how mechanical forces orchestrate immune responses, offering insights into immune cell functions and the mechanisms underlying mechanotransduction. However, a major challenge in this field is the absence of reliable platforms that deliver precise and consistent mechanical stimuli to individual cells while achieving practical and reproducible mechanobiological activation of immune cells. In this work, we introduce a highly sensitive and stable nanoscale acoustic oscillator for mechanoimmunology applications: NAOMI. NAOMI features a micropatterned substrate that promotes uniform cell monolayer formation, seamlessly integrated with an acoustic transducer system capable of generating precise nanoscale oscillations (±1 nm deviation) for up to 72 h of continuous stimulation. Unlike conventional passive mechanobiological platforms that rely on static stiffness or topographical cues, NAOMI enables programmable, uniform 3D oscillations, delivering finely tuned and reproducible mechanical stimulation for diverse experimental applications. Validation studies demonstrate that NAOMI-induced oscillations significantly amplify stress intensity and cell displacement, driving robust M1 pro-inflammatory polarization in macrophages. With its high precision, stability, and tunability, NAOMI offers a powerful and versatile platform for studying mechanoimmunology and holds strong potential to support future research and enable innovative immunotherapy applications.