Design and fabrication of the micro-gripper for manipulating the cell

A novel micro-gripper is designed and fabricated to manipulate the micro-sized object like a cell. In order to grip the cell, the micro-gripper should be operated in the liquid environment. Since the mechanical type micro-gripper is rarely affected by the surroundings, it is suitable to treat the cell. The other consideration for manipulating the cell is properties of the cell such as the bursting force and the maximum deformation of the cell for the applied force. Thus, the sensor system is needed to measure the force on the cell during the gripping. On this micro-gripper, a piezoresistive sensor is integrated for sensing the gripping force. Using the fabricated micro-gripper, micro-glass beads are successfully manipulated in the water. The resistance in the piezoresistor is changed by 0.06-0.07% for each 10 μN of the applied force. Therefore, since the proposed micro-gripper satisfies the requisite conditions, it can be utilized for manipulation of the cell.