Dual-Arm Nanorobotic System for Measuring Embryo with Minimum Disturbances

Abstract

The understanding of the embryo behavior, especially the early-stage development was hampered by the lack of proper diagnostic tools for clinical assessment before embryo implantation. Mechanical properties are label free biomarkers for the cells/embryo differentiation, as the atomic force microscopy (AFM) based experiment could simultaneously derive the surface morphological and mechanical information without damage to the cells. However, for the measurement of floating embryo, the lack of the constraint from the substrate will induce fluctuation and movement in lateral direction, causing failure in accurate measurement. Traditionally, researchers rely on the physical or chemical bounds to constrict the floating objects which may alter the objects’ properties and decrease the measurable region. Thus, it’s significant to implement the micromanipulator-based robot with AFM system to accomplish multiple tasks in the manipulation and measurement of single embryo. The system established in the current study could precisely manipulate and sense the living floating embryo without any extra treatment.