Abstract
In this study, we created a simple microfluidic platform that uses with in vitro fertilization (IVF) and avoided unexpected damage to oocytes due to frequent manipulation of the sperms and oocytes in traditional IVF operation. The device in this research could also be used to help reducing medium volumes, cell culture cost, evaporation problem and prevents contamination risk. To decrease the impact and destruction of the oocyte and the sperm, we adopted a positive dielectrophoretic force to manipulate the oocyte. The mouse oocytes are trapped by the positive dielectrophoretic (p-DEP) force at the ITO-glass electrodes. The ITO-glass electrodes chip was fabricated by the ITO-glass wet etching. And, the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) flow-focusing microfluidic device was used for micrometer-size microdroplets generation to make zygote contained. The volume of microdroplets can be controlled by adjusting the flow rates of both oil and DEP buffer. As a result, the fertility rate could be increased about 5% higher with DEP treated than traditional IVF and even more than 20% developed to blastocyst stage with lower sperm-oocyte ratio. The sorting rate could also achieve 100%. Furthermore, the research compared cultivation method in traditional way. The result shows that the development rate for small volume cultivation is about 10% higher than large volume cultivation.