A Pipette Tip Integrated with a Capacitive Microsensor Fabricated by Combined 3D Printing and MEMS Process for Cell Detection and Transportation

This paper reports on the detection and manipulation of cells using a pipette tip with a capacitive microsensor fabricated by combined 3D printing and MEMS processes. This pipette tip with microsensor was fabricated by 3D printing directly onto a MEMS device. First, a pair of comb electrode capacitive sensor was fabricated using the traditional MEMS process. Then, the pipette tip structure was 3D-printed directly on the sensor substrate by projection micro stereolithography. This process is possible to form nm- to cm-scale structures integrally with high precision and three-dimensionally. The fabricated device successfully detected cell suction and ejection. In addition, cell transfer was performed to show the possibility of applying the device to cell manipulation by a robot.