US 11,732,275 B2 · Cell microinjection system with force feedback

Abstract

A novel piezo-driven cell injection system with force feedback overcomes the unsatisfied force interaction between the pipette needle and embryos in conventional position control. By integrating semiconductor strain-gage sensors for detecting the cell penetration force and the micropipette relative position in real time, the developed cell microinjection system features high operation speed, confident success rate, and high survival rate. The effectiveness of the developed cell injection system is experimentally verified by penetrating zebrafish embryos. The injection of 100 embryos are conducted with separate position control and force control. Results indicate that the force control enables a survival rate of 86%, which is higher than the survival rate of 82% produced by the position control in the same control environment. The experimental results quantitatively demonstrate the superiority of force control over conventional position control for the first time.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A microinjection system comprising:

a microinjector;
and
a control device comprising:
a linear actuator which controls the movement of the microinjector towards and
from a pierceable microstructure target;
and
position and force strain gauge sensors configured to provide position and force information including force feedback information for enabling making a determination of whether the pierceable microstructure target has been pierced,
wherein the force feedback information is provided to a controller which is operatively linked to said linear actuator,
wherein the control device further comprises a bridge displacement amplifier,
wherein at least one of the force strain gauge sensors is mounted on the bridge displacement amplifier, and
wherein at least another one of the force strain gauge sensors is mounted on the microinjector.

8 more elements

A method for microinjection of a substance into a pierceable microstructure target which comprises:

(1) positioning a microinjector relative to the pierceable microstructure target by use of a charge coupled device camera using a computer vision algorithm;
(2) following the positioning of the microinjector relative to the pierceable microstructure target, effecting puncture of said pierceable microstructure by the microinjector;
and
(3) introducing a substance into said pierceable microstructure by injection from said microinjector,
wherein motion of said microinjector is controlled by a control device comprising a linear actuator which controls movement of the microinjector towards and from said pierceable microstructure target and position and force strain gauge sensors configured to provide position and force information including force feedback information enabling making a determination of whether the pierceable microstructure target has been pierced to a controller which is operatively linked to said linear actuator whereby sufficient force is applied to the microinjector to effect piercing of the wall of the pierceable microstructure,
wherein the control device further comprises a bridge displacement amplifier,
wherein at least one of the force strain gauge sensors is mounted on the bridge displacement amplifier, and
wherein at least another one of the force strain gauge sensors is mounted on the microinjector.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Cell microinjection system with force feedback

Life of this patent

Cell microinjection system with force feedback

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims17