A Micromanipulation System for Single Cell Deposition

Many microfabricated devices have been developed to quantify cellular response to a multitude of stimuli at a single-cell level in a high throughput manner. These single-cell studies require cells to be individually positioned at defined locations on a microdevice. This paper presents a micromanipulation system for automated pick-place of single cells. Integrating computer vision and motion control algorithms, the system visually tracks a cell in real time and controls multiple motion devices coordinately. Via fine manipulation of picoliter fluids and pressure of a few Pascals, the system accurately picks up a single cell, transfers the cell, and deposits it at a target location at a speed of 15-30 sec/cell. The micromanipulation system has the advantages of non-invasiveness, high specificity, and high precision. It is suitable to pick-place both non-labeled and labeled cells and applicable to standard cell culture substrates and microdevices with an open top.

许多微制造设备已经被开发出来，用于以高通量的方式在单细胞水平上量化细胞对多种刺激的反应。这些单细胞研究需要将细胞单独放置在微设备上的特定位置。本文介绍了一种用于单细胞自动拾取 - 放置的微操作系 统。该系统集成了计算机视觉和运动控制算法，能够实时视觉跟踪细胞并协调控制多个运动设备。通过对皮升流体的精细操作和几帕斯卡的压力，该系统能够以每个细胞15 - 30秒的速度准确地拾取单个细胞，转移细胞，并将其放置在目标位置。这种微操作系统具有无创、特异性高和精度高的优点。它适用于拾取 - 放置未标记和已标记的细胞，并适用于标准细胞培养底物和顶部开放的微设备。