Journal: EMBO Reports

Article Title: Robotic platform for microinjection into single cells in brain tissue

doi: 10.15252/embr.201947880

Figure Lengend Snippet: Photograph of the manipulator end of the Autoinjector. Scale bar is 40 mm. Photograph showing the custom pressure controller used for programmatic pressure control during automated microinjection. Scale bar is 8 mm. Overall hardware schematic. A computer interfaces with all the components of the platform, including the pressure controller, manipulator, and microscope camera. Images from the microscope camera are used to control the position of the micropipette using the manipulator. The pressure controller is used to precisely deliver injection pressure to the micropipette during microinjection. House pressure is coarsely downregulated by a mechanical regulator, followed by fine downregulation using an electronic regulator controlled by a microcontroller. Delivery of pressure to the micropipette is digitally controlled using a solenoid valve. The trajectory of the micropipette is controlled by the manipulator and is guided using images acquired using the microscope. Black arrows indicate digital interface routes, and blue arrows indicate pneumatic route.

Article Snippet: The output from the manual pressure regulator was routed to an electronic pressure regulator (990‐005101‐002, Parker Hannifin) that allowed fine tuning of the final pressure going to the injection micropipette (0–250 mbar) using the control software.

Techniques: Control, Microinjection, Microscopy, Injection