Fabrication of movable microstructure integrated with Vorticella actuator

Biohybrid systems, formed by combining biological cells and artificial components has a potential to resolve the current technical limits of traditional microactuators. We demonstrate fabrication of microstructures, which can be coupled to Vorticella convallaria. Structures were fabricated by microfluidic in situ photolithography techniques, and movable components were developed. We evaluated viability of V. convallaria in a photocurable polymer solution or in a buffer after fabrication of structure. A device for trapping a cell was fabricated to combine V. convallaria and polymerized microstructures. Our developed method provides one strategy to integrate bioactuators with artificial structures in microsystems.