A novel micro drill design based on Ros-Drill^Ⓒ

This paper presents the development of a novel micro drill device for single living organisms. Currently, microinjection for mice and some other species is performed with the help of piezo-driven actuators with a very small amount of mercury column in the proximal end of the pipette in order to increase the success rate. However, the toxicity of mercury exhibits a risk factor both for the operator and the injected cells. Therefore, mercury-free devices have become a necessity. Here, a novel micro drill is developed based on the same principle of Ros-Drill^Ⓒ piercing approach; piercing via rotational movements. The new drill is driven by a brushless motor, and it incorporates the micropipette holder. Both the amplitude and the frequency of rotational oscillations can be adjusted in very wide ranges. The experiments reveal that the drill is suitable for different tasks such as microinjection and biopsy of different organisms. It presents good performance in terms of success rate, ease of usage, compactness and compatibility with different manipulation systems.