Single cell dispensing

For many questions in modern research and personalized diagnostics, it is necessary to be able to handle cells individually. At Fraunhofer IMM, we are working on the technologies required for this, such as single cell dispensing. In this context, depending on the application, the goal can range from the unspecific separation of a cell population to the isolation of individual specific cells or cell clusters. Approaches to use the technology for printing cells are also addressed at Fraunhofer IMM. In all cases, the goal is to realize dispensing with high throughput and maximum precision.

At Fraunhofer IMM, we realize such systems for single-cell dispensing by combining microfluidic structures with appropriate optical detection (e.g. fluorescence detection), among other things, whereby even rare cells from a larger mixed population can be dispensed and thus isolated with high purity. Since all applications of single cell dispensing require high precision in the overall process control, our work therefore includes fluidic and micro-technical design, optical detection, as well as real-time data evaluation methods to control the dispensing process.

 

Your advantage

• System solution with high precision
• High throughput
• Cell-friendly process 
• High purity of dispensed cells
• Flexible dispensing of single cells with the option of single cell deposition or separation of cell populations
• Disposable consumables for contamination-free analyses
• Full (temporal) control over the dispensing process
• Different droplet sizes possible (pL to µL)

Our success factors

• Coverage of the entire technology chain for system development 
• High flexibility in customization of existing solutions
• Proprietary microfluidic cartridge solution
• Real-time data processing to control the dispensing event

Typical application areas

• Diagnostics
• Drug screening
• Biotechnology
• Cell printing
• Organ printing
• Single Cell Research