Integrated cell manipulation system—CMOS/microfluidic hybrid

Abstract

Manipulation of biological cells using a CMOS/microfluidic hybrid system is demonstrated. The hybrid system starts with a custom-designed CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) chip fabricated in a semiconductor foundry. A microfluidic channel is post-fabricated on top of the CMOS chip to provide biocompatible environments. The motion of individual biological cells that are tagged with magnetic beads is directly controlled by the CMOS chip that generates microscopic magnetic field patterns using an on-chip array of micro-electromagnets. Furthermore, the CMOS chip allows high-speed and programmable reconfiguration of the magnetic fields, substantially increasing the manipulation capability of the hybrid system. Extending from previous work that verified the concept of the hybrid system, this paper reports a set of manipulation experiments with biological cells, which further confirms the advantage of the hybrid approach. To enhance the biocompatibility of the system, the microfluidic channel is redesigned and the temperature of the device is monitored by on-chip sensors. Combining microelectronics and microfluidics, the CMOS/microfluidic hybrid system presents a new model for a cell manipulation platform in biological and biomedical applications.