An Automated Cell Manipulation Platform Based on Micro-flow Control for Patterned Cell Analysis Applications

Individual live-cell manipulation is important to cell research to quantitatively analyze single-cell behaviors and cell-cell communication for cell physiology and pathology applications. Specifically, the positioning of individual cells/functionalized particles for biochemical stimuli, drug delivery and reagent supply can provide a defined physical/biochemical environment. Although there are existing methods developed for the cell manipulation with superior performance, each has its limitations. One common issue of the above methods is the excessive applied forces to confine cells at the target positions and to induce unexpected cell responses and behavioral alterations via mechanotransduction – the conversion from mechanical stimuli to biochemical signals.Here, we for the first time propose a novel single-cell manipulation strategy through a distinctive yet effective approach. Instead of applying confinement forces to hold cells/particles at the target spots, we plan to develop a microfluidic platform to regulate the boundary flow conditions around a confined microchamber in order to achieve the manipulation with minimal forces acting on the cells. We will perform system design, flow characterization (via both simulation and experiments), flow control algorithm development, and cell positioning experiments of human live cells. This strategy provides a universal platform for cell manipulation applications, such as single cell research and cell patterning.