NSK Developed Micro-Manipulation System may Facilitates the Handling of Microscopic Items

NSK's micro-manipulation system features a three-axis (XYZ) positioning stage that facilitates the attachment of measuring devices, micromanipulators and microscopes for examining a preparation.

NSK has developed a micro-manipulation system that facilitates the handling of microscopic items With the ability to manipulate items as small as a single cell, the new system can be used in a variety of medical science and biotechnology applications.

Nanotechnologists will also find the system useful in assembling microscopic tools.

With a proprietary piezoelectric actuator that makes it easy to operate, the system features a three-axis (XYZ) positioning stage that facilitates the attachment of measuring devices, micromanipulators and microscopes for examining a preparation.

NSK's ultrafine positioning technology was used in the system's nanopositioner and driven by a rotary motor.

This technology uses a piezoelectric element for fine motion positioning control of various setups and micromanipulators.

The system's ability to manipulate cells is currently being evaluated by Professor Naomi Kashiwazaki of the School of Veterinary Medicine at Azabu University.

Features
1. Highly accurate positioning of stage and stage attachments
Highly accurate positioning is enabled by NSK’s Nanopositioner, which includes proprietary technology in its rotary motor and ball screw. In combination with NSK’s high-resolution piezoelectric drive mechanism, these components facilitate ease of operation, highly accurate positioning and coarse motion drive of various stage attachments.

2. Ease of operation
Thanks to a high degree of automation even a relatively unskilled operator can position a specimen and perform functions that would have previously required a highly skilled operator.

3. Enhanced safety
The system enhances safety by enabling operators to perform intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) without using mercury. Small amounts of mercury are typically used to stabilize the pipette tip when piezoelectric force pulses are applied during ICSI. Removing the need for mercury eliminates handling and waste disposal concerns.

Manipulation systems for ultrafine positioning are used in various fields covering medical practice, biotechnology, semiconductor manufacturing, and electronics, and conventionally required highly skilled operators. Combined with information technologies and metrology engineering, manipulation systems can be applied to a wider range of uses in science and technology, and can be used by a larger number of operators with minimal training.

With its high-precision positioning drive technology NSK’s manipulation system offers a new standard of accuracy and efficiency. This is one example of NSK’s ongoing commitment to innovation in our four core technologies: tribology, materials, analysis and mechatronics.

About Piezoelectricity
Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials (notably crystals and certain ceramics) to generate an electric potential in response to applied mechanical stress. This may take the form of a separation of electric charge across the crystal lattice. If the material is not short-circuited, the applied charge induces a voltage across the material. The word is derived from the Greek piezein, which means to squeeze or press.

The piezoelectric effect is reversible in that materials exhibiting the direct piezoelectric effect (the production of electricity when stress is applied) also exhibit the converse piezoelectric effect (the production of stress and/or strain when an electric field is applied). For example, lead zirconate titanate crystals will exhibit a maximum shape change of about 0.1% of the original dimension.

The effect finds useful applications such as the production and detection of sound, generation of high voltages, electronic frequency generation, microbalances, and ultra fine focusing of optical assemblies. It is also the basis of a number of scientific instrumental techniques with atomic resolution, the scanning probe microscopies such as STM, AFM, MTA, SNOM etc.

The pyroelectric effect, where a material generates an electric potential in response to a temperature change, was studied by Carolus Linnaeus and Franz Aepinus in the mid-18th century. Drawing on this knowledge, both René Just Haüy and Antoine César Becquerel posited a relationship between mechanical stress and electric charge; however, experiments by both proved inconclusive.

The first demonstration of the direct piezoelectric effect was in 1880 by the brothers Pierre Curie and Jacques Curie. They combined their knowledge of pyroelectricity with their understanding of the underlying crystal structures that gave rise to pyroelectricity to predict crystal behavior, and demonstrated the effect using crystals of tourmaline, quartz, topaz, cane sugar, and Rochelle salt (sodium potassium tartrate tetrahydrate). Quartz and Rochelle salt exhibited the most piezoelectricity.

Tags: NSK , micro-manipulation system , three-axis (XYZ) positioning stage , piezoelectric , Professor Naomi Kashiwazaki of the School of Veterinary Medicine at Azabu University ,