The optoelectronic microrobot: A versatile toolbox for micromanipulation

Abstract

Microrobotics extends the reach of human-controlled machines to submillimeter dimensions. We introduce a microrobot that relies on optoelectronic tweezers (OET) that is straightforward to manufacture, can take nearly any desirable shape or form, and can be programmed to carry out sophisticated, multiaxis operations. One particularly useful program is a serial combination of “load,” “transport,” and “deliver,” which can be applied to manipulate a wide range of micrometer-dimension payloads. Importantly, microrobots programmed in this manner are much gentler on fragile mammalian cells than conventional OET techniques. The microrobotic system described here was demonstrated to be useful for single-cell isolation, clonal expansion, RNA sequencing, manipulation within enclosed systems, controlling cell–cell interactions, and isolating precious microtissues from heterogeneous mixtures. We propose that the optoelectronic microrobotic system, which can be implemented using a microscope and consumer-grade optical projector, will be useful for a wide range of applications in the life sciences and beyond.

A Review on Optoelectrokinetics-Based Manipulation and Fabrication of Micro/Nanomaterials

“…In addition, the manipulation and assembly of hybrid metal-polymer microparticles were achieved [62]. It has been further demonstrated that OEK can serve as a versatile and programmable microrobot to perform typical micromanipulations such as "load," "transport," and "deliver" [63]. Firstly, OEK was used to manipulate custom-designed microstructures.…”

“…This OEK-based microrobot was also validated to be suitable for isolating single cells for clonal expansion and other biomedical applications. It has been further demonstrated that OEK can serve as a versatile and programmable microrobot to perform typical micromanipulations such as "load," "transport," and "deliver" [63]. Firstly, OEK was used to manipulate custom-designed microstructures.…”

“…(E) the partially enclosed microrobot delivered the bead; (F) the bead was unloaded; (G) schematic illustration of the "load," "transport," and "deliver" micromanipulations (reproduced from Ref. [63]).…”

A Versatile Optoelectronic Tweezer System for Micro-Objects Manipulation: Transportation, Patterning, Sorting, Rotating and Storage

“…Projected micro-pattern provides the system with a flexible electrode that is not available in the predesigned structures used in conventional DEP systems. OET has been widely used in the manipulation of micro-objects [ 25 ] such as cell culture [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ] and microrobot [ 30 , 31 ], and the assembly of sub-millimeter electronic [ 32 , 33 , 34 ] and electrical devices [ 35 , 36 ]. For example, OET is also used to analyze the relative hardness of red blood cells [ 37 ] and conditions that affect the cell membranes of swimming Enterobacter aerogenes bacteria [ 38 ].…”

Distributed Force Control for Microrobot Manipulation via Planar Multi‐Spot Optical Tweezer

“…Apart from using OT to realize reconfigurable hydrodynamic manipulation via the control of optically driven micro‐motors, optoelectronic tweezer has been developed to combine dielectrophoresis with OT, which is capable of exerting a stronger manipulation force for a given intensity of light for microrobot control. [ 12 ] A shaped particle based on a tapered cylinder fabricated by two‐photon polymerization has been proposed for acting as a passive force clamp, [ 13 ] which facilitates the design of optically trapped objects with specific force profiles. However, the motions of the passive force clamp are mainly for planar translation.…”