Developing Microfluidic Devices for Assisted Reproductive Technologies

The gaining popularity of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) calls for the introduction of more affordable and less tedious processes rather than the typical manual operations. In order for ICSI to occur, the Cumulus Oocyte Complexes (COCs) retrieved from the ovaries must be processed in order to remove the tightly-packed cumulus cells surrounding them. As of yet, this tedious and unstandardized process is being done manually by skilled embryologists, which results in variability and unavailability. The focus of this project is to develop microfluidic devices to denude the COCs for ICSI, in order to reduce the tyranny of manual operations and push toward automated, reproducible operations. These microfluidic devices are fabricated through conventional PDMS microfluidic processes and tested using automated magnetic pumps controlled by a microcontroller. To date, actual microfluidic devices have been developed and successfully tested using particles similar to COCs