Electrical stimulation may influence cell behavior associated with proliferation, differentiation, and migration, among others. The need for electrical tools to interact with living cells has pushed the technology to progressively develop less invasive devices. Technologies like energy harvesting have enabled wireless biological applications. Here we report the use of a photovoltaic microcell array (PVMA) based on silicon, as a wire-free interface to stimulate single cells with high spatial resolution. We demonstrate the effectivity of this microtool on osteoblast cells. The electrical stimulation triggered intracellular calcium transients as a response in 46% of the cells. The reduced dimension of the PVMA and its capacity to work in visible light show its potential for the wireless life science explorations.

电刺激可能会影响与增殖，分化和迁移相关的细胞行为。对与活细胞相互作用的电动工具的需求推动了该技术逐步开发侵入性较小的设备。诸如能量收集之类的技术已使无线生物应用成为可能。在这里，我们报告了基于硅的光伏微电池阵列（PVMA）的使用，作为无线接口以高空间分辨率刺激单个电池。我们证明了这种微型工具对成骨细胞的有效性。电刺激触发了细胞内钙瞬变，作为46％细胞的反应。PVMA尺寸的减小及其在可见光下的工作能力表明了其在无线生命科学探索中的潜力。