Vision-Servo System for Automated Cell Injection

TLDR

Cell injection has traditionally been manual, laborious, time‑consuming, inaccurate, and contamination‑prone, prompting advances in nuclear reprogramming and intracytoplasmic sperm injection that demand more advanced, automatic micromanipulation technologies. The study aims to develop an automatic cell injection system that visually monitors and controls the injection process to overcome manual drawbacks. The system integrates a vision module with an injector, locating the cell, positioning the pipette, and driving it via an algorithm to achieve effective penetration. The system achieves high precision, with penetration accuracy within a good tolerance range.

Abstract

Recent developments in nuclear reprogramming and intracytoplasmic sperm injection reflect an increasing need for more advanced and automatic micromanipulation technologies. In this paper, we present an automatic cell injection system, which is capable of visually monitoring the injecting process and controlling the microactuators. Traditionally, cell injection was manually operated, and it was laborious, time consuming, of low accuracy, and prone to contamination due to the handling requirements. An automatic and efficient strategy is required to eliminate these drawbacks. In this paper, a system is developed where the injection process is monitored and controlled automatically via integration of a vision system to an injector manipulation system. The cell is located, and the pipette is positioned and driven by the algorithm to achieve effective penetration. The precision achieved is physically proven to be within a good tolerance range.