The optoelectronic microrobot: A versatile toolbox for micromanipulation

TLDR

Microrobotics extends the reach of human‑controlled machines to submillimeter dimensions. The authors present an optoelectronic microrobot that is easy to fabricate, highly adaptable in shape, and programmable for complex multiaxis tasks, and they propose it will be broadly useful in life‑science and other applications. It employs optoelectronic tweezers to perform a serial load‑transport‑deliver sequence, allowing manipulation of a wide range of micrometer‑dimension payloads. The microrobot operates gentler on fragile mammalian cells and has been shown to enable single‑cell isolation, clonal expansion, RNA sequencing, intra‑system manipulation, cell‑cell interaction control, and isolation of microtissues from heterogeneous mixtures.

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.