Cell manipulation by using integrated light driven on-chip actuator

Abstract

Single cell manipulation techniques are needed to realize a single cell analysis. On-chip actuator is a potential candidate for manipulation tool to realize various cell manipulations in a microfluidic chip. Among on-chip actuators, on-chip gel actuator is attracting large attention because it can realize low-invasive cell manipulations. We proposed drive method of on-chip gel actuators by using light irradiation. The gel actuator is made of temperature responsive hydrogel and fabricated on microfluidic chip with light absorbing pattern. Thus, the actuator can be driven by irradiating light. Furthermore, multiple actuators can be integrated at short distance. In this study, we show cell manipulation in microfluidic device by using multiple gel actuators. To realize driving arbitrary actuators, we irradiate patterned light by using DMD. Furthermore, we succeeded in transporting cell through flow path made by gel actuators. In this result, we show the proof of concept of cell manipulations in microfluidic device by using integrated gel actuator.