Micro Manipulation

Embryo manipulation is a fundamental task in assisted reproductive technology (ART). This work presents a robotic negative Dielectrophoresis (nDEP)-tweezers that can enable embryo translation and orientation easily. An inverted microchip with quadrupole electrodes is attached to a micromanipulator to become a robotic DEP tweezers, and a motorized platform provides additional mobility to the embryos lying on a Petri dish. Vision-based algorithms are developed to evaluate relevant information of the embryos from the image, and to provide feedback signals for precise position and orientation control of the embryo. This system offers a non-contact, low-cost, flexible, and effective method for high-precision embryo manipulation. read more