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Automated manipulation of zebrafish embryos using an electrothermal microgripper

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Abstract

We present the first report on automated micro-manipulation of zebrafish embryos using an electrothermally-actuated microgripper. A five-bar linkage compliant microgripper, driven by a V-shaped electrothermal micro-actuator, is designed based on topological optimization. The electrothermally-actuated microgripper is fabricated, tested, and then integrated into a robotic micromanipulation system. The semi-automated manipulation of a single zebrafish embryo, as well as a series of comparison experiments, is carried out. Experimental results demonstrate that the microgripper has reliable capability of picking, moving, holding and releasing the zebrafish embryo. Specifically, it performs fairly well in immobilizing and limiting the excessive deformation of the embryo. Finally, based on teaching, the whole process of zebrafish embryo microinjection is programed and performed automatically, thus demonstrating great strengths and performance of the microgripper in zebrafish embryo micro-manipulation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51575006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Modern Posts, Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications, Xi’an, China

    Zhuo Zhang

  2. College of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Electronics Technology, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China

    Yueqing Yu, Peng Song, Yatao Zhang, Dongming Tian, Huipeng Zhang, Hongmiao Wei & Mingyu Cui

  3. School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China

    Guoning Si

  4. Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Xuping Zhang

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  1. Zhuo Zhang
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  2. Yueqing Yu
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  3. Peng Song
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  6. Huipeng Zhang
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Correspondence to Xuping Zhang.

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Zhang, Z., Yu, Y., Song, P. et al. Automated manipulation of zebrafish embryos using an electrothermal microgripper. Microsyst Technol 26, 1823–1834 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-019-04728-1

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