Bioresorbable Self-Folding Microgrippers for Single Cell Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for surgical diagnostics and biological analyses often rely on large samples, which can't accurately represent individual cell behaviors, especially in heterogeneous populations like tumors, making it challenging to understand dynamic or transient behaviors of single cells.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising a pre-stressed bilayer in operational communication with rigid segments, capable of actuating to capture, manipulate, or encapsulate single cells from tissue samples or biological fluids, using biocompatible materials like SiO and SiO2 that are bioresorbable, allowing for autonomous actuation and high-throughput sampling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If large size tools are used for surgical diagnostics and biological analyses, then the tools can perform bulk measurements on tissue samples, but the data collected averages over multiple cells and cannot accurately represent individual cell behaviors
Solution Approach 1:
The device segments the tissue sample into individual cell-level measurements by using multiple small probe elements arranged in arrays, allowing each element to interact with single cells or small cell groups rather than bulk tissue, thereby achieving single-cell measurement precision while maintaining a manageable overall device structure
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from traditional large-scale bulk measurement approaches to micro-scale three-dimensional probe structures that can navigate and measure within the spatial dimensions of individual cells, enabling precise single-cell analysis through dimensional reduction and spatial reconfiguration
2Productivity
If traditional large tools are used for tissue biopsy sampling, then the tools can obtain sufficient sample material, but they cannot capture dynamic or transient behaviors of single cells
Solution Approach 1:
The sampling device is segmented into multiple independent probe elements that can simultaneously capture and analyze individual cells, enabling high-throughput single-cell sampling while requiring only minimal tissue material, thus resolving the contradiction between sampling productivity and sample quantity requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs preliminary isolation and capture of individual cells before analysis, allowing dynamic and transient single-cell behaviors to be recorded without requiring large bulk samples, thereby enabling high-throughput single-cell studies with minimal tissue consumption
3Object-affected harmful factors
If bioresorbable materials like SiO and SiO2 are used for device fabrication, then the device becomes bio-friendly and suitable for in vivo applications, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the material parameters by selecting bioresorbable materials such as silicon monoxide (SiO) and silicon dioxide (SiO2) with controlled thicknesses and stress properties, enabling the device to be biocompatible and safely degraded in vivo while maintaining manufacturability through established thin-film deposition techniques
Solution Approach 2:
The device employs composite material structures combining different thicknesses and compositions of SiO and SiO2 layers to achieve both biocompatibility and desired mechanical properties, resolving the contradiction between using bio-friendly materials and maintaining ease of manufacture through optimized material combinations
4Extent of automation
If pre-stressed bilayer structures are used for autonomous actuation, then the device can perform self-folding and self-actuation without external control, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device achieves self-service through pre-stressed bilayer structures that automatically fold and actuate in response to environmental stimuli such as pH changes or temperature variations, enabling autonomous operation without external control systems and reducing overall device complexity despite the sophisticated material structures
Solution Approach 2:
The bilayer structure utilizes parameter changes in the material properties (such as stress, thickness, and composition ratios of different SiO/SiO2 layers) to control the actuation behavior, enabling autonomous functionality while managing device complexity through material parameter optimization rather than structural complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise capture and analysis of single cells, overcoming the limitations of bulk measurements by providing a bio-friendly, untethered, and autonomous system for sampling and manipulation, suitable for both in vitro and in vivo applications.
Implementation Method 1
the device has a first configuration capable of being actuated to at least a second configuration in response to one or more stimuli
Implementation Method 2
using biocompatible materials like SiO and SiO2 that are bioresorbable
Data Source
AI summary
Microgrippers adapted to capture, manipulate, and contain single cells in both in vitro and in vivo cell applications are disclosed. The energy required to actuate these microgrippers is derived from the release of residual stress and does not require any wires, tethers, or batteries. Because the microgrippers are made from biocompatible and biosorbable materials, they do not accumulate in tissue. Accordingly, they can be used for in vivo applications, such as for gripping single cells in tissue biopsies.