Micromachines 2014, 5(3), 681-696; doi:10.3390/mi5030681
A Single Cell Extraction Chip Using Vibration-Induced Whirling Flow and a Thermo-Responsive Gel Pattern
1
Department of Micro-Nano Systems Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-Cho, Chikusa-Ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
2
Laboratory of Oncology, School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, 1432-1 Horinouchi, Hachiohji, Tokyo 192-0392, Japan
3
Toyama Industrial Technology Center, 383 Takata, Toyama 930-0866, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 17 July 2014 / Revised: 27 August 2014 / Accepted: 27 August 2014 / Published: 10 September 2014
Abstract
We propose a single cell extraction chip with an open structure, which utilizes vibration-induced whirling flow and a single cell catcher. By applying a circular vibration to a micropillar array spiral pattern, a whirling flow is induced around the micropillars, and target cells are transported towards the single cell catcher placed at the center of the spiral. The single cell catcher is composed of a single-cell-sized hole pattern of thermo-responsive gel. The gel swells at low temperatures (≲32 ◦C) and shrinks at high temperatures (≳32 ◦C), therefore, its volume expansion can be controlled by an integrated microheater. When the microheater is turned on, a single cell is trapped by the hole pattern of the single cell catcher. Then, when the microheater is turned off, the single cell catcher is cooled by the ambient temperature. The gel swells at this temperature, and the hole closes to catch the single cell. The caught cell can then be released into culture wells on a microtiter plate by heating the gel again. We conducted single cell extraction with the proposed chip and achieved a 60% success rate, of which 61% cells yielded live cells. View Full-TextKeywords:
cell manipulation; single cell extraction; acoustic streaming; PNIPAAm
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Hayakawa, T.; Sakuma, S.; Fukuhara, T.; Yokoyama, Y.; Arai, F. A Single Cell Extraction Chip Using Vibration-Induced Whirling Flow and a Thermo-Responsive Gel Pattern. Micromachines 2014, 5, 681-696.
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