ON-chip oocyte enucleation by robot integrated microfluidic chip

This paper presents on-chip enucleation of oocyte by the robot integrated microfluidic chip (Robochip). Enucleation process is mainly divided in three processes, which are (a) holding oocyte, (b) penetration to the oocyte, and (c) removal of the nucleus with cellular cytoplasm. Therefore, the robochip employed a pair of probe and a force sensor, and microneedle. Therefore, the Robochip contained an on-chip probe, an implanted force sensor, and an untethered microneedle in order to achieve the enucleation function. On-chip probe and the microneedle were driven by the external magnetic force in order to achieve a high output force to hold and penetrate an oocyte sufficiently. The on-chip enucleation was demonstrated and the high speed enucleation process with the zona pellucida was achieved.