This paper reports a new design topology of 4 pole hybrid electromagnetic levitation system in conjunction with linear synchronous motor. The mover, 4 pole hybrid electromagnet, is levitated underneath of the linear motor with zero power control algorithm. Propulsion and one-dimensional planar motion of the hybrid electromagnet is provided by the vector controlled linear motor. The new design of 4 pole hybrid electromagnet has several improvements over older systems, such as weight reduction and less material usage. Diagonal drive integration of mover and linear motor is proposed and experimental results are presented.

In this paper, on-chip particle loading and dispensing modules are presented with their results for the automation of a single particle retrieving from a microfluidic channel. Our proposed microfluidic chip has several modules. Each one of them has important functions as (a) loading micro-particles singly to main microfluidic flow by the aid of magnetically driven microtools (MMT); (b) finding particle position in a microfluidic channel by micro-capacitance sensors; (c) adjusting micro-channel height locally by pneumatic pressure valve; (d) dispensing particles out from the microfluidic chip to incubation environment. Novelty of this paper is summarized as follows: (1) Multi-photoresist combination technique for the pneumatic pressure valve; (2) Automatic on-chip particle dispensing with micro-capacitance sensors. We showed feasibility of automatic dispensing of a single polystyrene bead (about 100 μm) from the chip to atmosphere. The performances of each module (hybrid structure, sensor and dispensing parts) were evaluated individually. We succeeded in determination of the movement of micro-particles (about 50-100 μm) with the velocity of over 6 mm/sec. by the micro-capacitance sensors. The advantages of the proposed system are that composed of the reusable drive system such as xy motorized stage, pumps and a disposable microfluidic chip.

In this paper, we presented a design for an automated cell supply system that can be used with complex microfluidic applications requiring single cell loading such as the current nuclear transplantation method. The aim of the system is to automatically transfer mammalian donor (~15 ¿m) or egg (~100 ¿m) cells one by one from a container to a PDMS micro-channel and then transport them to other modules. The system consists of two main parts; a single cell suction module, and a PDMS-based microfluidic chip controlled by an external pump. The desired number of vacuumed cells can be directed into the microfluidic chip and stored in a docking area. From the batch, they can be moved to next module by activating pneumatic pressure valves located on two sides of the chip.

This paper describes research and development of a compact vision system for real-time cell detection and manipulation in a capillary in order to apply on the “Automated Nuclear Transplantation” project which will achieve sort of cell manipulation tasks such as positioning, cutting, sizing, and so on, automatically between different interconnected modules. Here, we propose a vision system boarded on a PDMS based silicon chip, which can be utilized in a complex network for continuous monitoring of mammalian egg and donor cells of sizes in the range of 10 to 100 micron. The developed prototype has sufficient resolution and is accompanied with a robust detection method for cell-based microfluidic applications.