Tele-Robotic Platform for Dexterous Optical Single-Cell Manipulation.

Single-cell manipulation is considered a key technology in biomedical research. However, the lack of intuitive and effective systems makes this technology less accessible. We propose a new tele-robotic solution for dexterous cell manipulation through optical tweezers.

Controlling the lifetime of antibubbles.

An antibubble is a liquid droplet wrapped by a thin layer of gas, inside a bulk liquid usually of the same composition. The lifetime of an antibubble is governed by the drainage of the gas between the two liquid-gas interfaces populated by surfactants. Depending on the relative magnitude of surface viscosity and elastic moduli, which directly depend on or are determined by the nature of surfactants, the lifetime of an antibubble may vary a lot, from few seconds to few minutes.

Hybrid Two-Scale Fabrication of Sub-Millimetric Capillary Grippers.

Capillary gripping is a pick-and-place technique that is particularly well-suited for handling sub-millimetric components. Nevertheless, integrating a fluid supply and release mechanism becomes increasingly difficult to manufacture for these scales. In the present contribution, two hybrid manufacturing procedures are introduced in which the creation of the smallest features is decoupled from the macro-scale components.