MEMS nozzle for dry-capturing lily pollens in array and fixing on culture media for plasma bio-applications

Abstract

Abstract A nozzle device featuring a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) was developed to realize a series of advanced micromanipulation steps for capturing pollens from flower stamen and fixing them in arrays on culture media without cell damage. The MEMS nozzle, which has an array of through-holes with counterbores, was fabricated by the photolithography and Si etching. During the manipulation, the pollen in the air was captured in the counterbores due to the negative pressure applied from the nozzle backside. When the device with the captured pollen was moved into the liquid culture media of the gelatin, the liquid was sucked into each counterbore, so that the captured pollen was covered. By cooling the culture media down and switching off negative pressure, the controlled release of sucked cells without damage and the fixation in array on solid culture media were achieved. Through experiments implemented by the nozzle, the positive effect of plasma-treated water on the pollen growth was verified. The microarray strategy presented in this work made the cell experiments and result analysis more effective, especially for the plasma bio-applications.