Towards ultrahigh throughput microinjection: MEMS-based massively-parallelized mechanoporation

We describe a massively-parallelized, MEMS-based device concept for passively delivering exogeneous molecules into living cells via mechanical membrane penetration, i.e., mechanoporation. Details regarding device design and fabrication are discussed, as are results from preliminary live cell studies focused on device validation at the proof-of-concept level. These efforts represent key steps towards our long-term goal of developing instrumentation capable of ultrahigh throughput (UHT) cellular manipulation via active microinjection.