2DOF Magnetically Driven Microtool for Soft Peeling of Zona Pellucida

Abstract

We automated removal of the swine oocyte zona pellucida using a 2DOF magnetically driven microtool (MMT) on a microfluidic chip. Multiple oocytes can be manipulated simultaneously highly stably, providing strong advantages over conventional manual manipulation using pipetting. We propose automating this process by activating a soft polymer microtool on a disposable microfluidic chip to stably mass-produce peeled oocytes - a breakthrough in high throughput and effective oocyte manipulation in cloning and fertility treatment.

3D-microfluidic device to remove zona pellucida fabricated by Mask-less exposure technology

“…To overcome such a problem of the conventional manual removal of zona pellucida, automation of the process is required. Recently, we have developed the magnetically driven microtool (MMT) [20] and one of the functions is the peeling off of zona pellucida of oocyte. Figure 5 shows the concept view of removing of zona pellucida by using the lateral motion of MMT and Figure 6 shows the one of the successful operation example to remove the zona pellucida by using the externally applied magnetic field.…”

Simultaneous Loading and Injection Chip to Automate Single-cell Injections for Bovine Oocytes

“…Finally, the glass cover was placed onto the PDMS, sealing all of the components inside, and the fabricated chip was heated on a hot plate at 140 °C for 10 min to permanently bond the glass and PDMS, similarly to that in other studies. (26)…”