Fabrication Process of Microsurgical Tools for Single-Cell Trapping and Intracytoplasmic Injection

Abstract—In this paper, we introduce chemical etching-based processes for fabricating micromanipulators from fused silica microcapillary tubing. The resulting devices are capable of ma-nipulating individual cells and can be used for intracytoplasmic injection. Two types of micromanipulating tools: single-cell trap-pers and micro-injectors, were fabricated with two single-step etching processes. These etching mechanisms, which are either surface tension controlled or diffusion rate limited, are discussed in detail with experimental verifications. The fabrication pro-cesses are reproducible and amenable to mass production due to their simplicity and low fabrication cost. Single cell capture and intracytoplasmic injection have been successfully demonstrated on brassica oleracea protoplasts. [1188] Index Terms—Cell trapping, intracytoplasmic injection, micro-manipulator, photobleaching. I.