ELECTROSTATIC MANIPULATION OF BIOLOGICAL OBJECTS

A novel device called a "Fluid Integrated Circuit" (FIC) has been developed for the electrostatic manipulation of biological objects. The FIC is made with photolithographic micro-machining techniques used for the production of IC and LSI, by which all components for the manipulations are miniaturized and integrated on one substrate. The advantage of the FIC concept is twofold: firstly, channels, electrodes etc. can be made small to allow the handling of micrometer scale objects, and secondly, the electrodes and insulating walls of arbitrary shape can be made so that a flexible field design is possible. Dielectrophoretic force is used for the actuation of cells and biological molecules. Several cell handling devices have been designed and fabricated: a FIC electrical cell fusion device that realizes one-to-one cell fusion, a cell shift register for the storage and transport of individual cells, and a cell deflector for the classification and sorting of cells. The electrostatic orientation of DNA is observed under the high-strength field produced by micrometer-sized electrodes. © 1990.