Cell manipulation method based on vibration-induced local flow control in open chip environment

We present a novel cell manipulation method using vibration-induced local flow in open chip environment. By applying circular vibration to micropillars on a chip, local whirling flow is induced around the micropillars. From the observation of this unique phenomenon, we propose the concept of cell manipulation in open chip environment. We analyze this phenomenon theoretically, and evaluate the effect of the frequency and the amplitude of applied vibration. We design the micropillar array according to the analysis for transportation for oocytes. We apply the proposed method to transportation of mouse oocytes and confirm that the velocity of transportation is approximately 25 μm/s.