Cellular aggregate catcher using fluidic manipulation in high compatibility with widespread micro-well-plate

This paper proposes a catcher device to manipulate and transport a cellular aggregate in a micro well. A cellular aggregate (around 100 μm in diameter) is currently manipulated by a pipette. Manual manipulation by a pipette has problems; low reliability, low throughput, and difficulty in confirmation of task completion. μTAS technology, especially various particle manipulation techniques on a fluidic chip are applied to cell manipulation. We, however, take into account of compatibility with existing method such as a micro well plate and design a catcher device of a cellular aggregate in a micro well. Newly developed a catcher device flows and carries a cellular aggregate from a bottom of a well to a trap of a catcher device. This paper presents concept, design, fabrication, and experimental results of proposed cellular aggregate catcher.