Evaluation of the response characteristics of on-chip gel actuators for various single cell manipulations

On-chip gel actuators are potential candidates for single cell manipulation because they can realize low-invasive manipulation of various cells. We propose an on-chip gel actuator driven by light irradiation. By patterning the gel actuator with light absorber, we can control the temperature of the actuator and drive it. The proposed drive method can realize highly localized temperature control of the gel actuator and can be applied to mass integration of on-chip gel actuators. In this study, we evaluate the heat conduction of the actuator during driving and its response characteristics as a function of various design parameters. We theoretically and experimentally evaluate the response characteristics and confirm that the response characteristics can be changed by altering the size of the light absorber. Furthermore, we show some examples of cell manipulation including trapping, transport, and sorting with various sizes of light absorber. Finally, we show proof of concept for the application of the proposed drive method for massive integration of on-chip gel actuators.