In-Situ Formation of a Gel Microbead for Laser Micromanipulation of Microorganisms, DNA, and Viruses

We proposein situformation of gel microbeads made of a thermoreversible hydrogel for indirect laser micromanipulation of microorganisms, DNA, and viruses. Using a 1064 nm laser, we irradiated an aqueous solution mixed with poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide) through a high- magnification lens, thereby forming a gel microbead through heating at the laser focus. The gel microbead, trapped by the laser, was used to indirectly manipulate micro- and nano-scale samples. Laser tweezers stably handle micro-scale object ranging from several tens of nm to several hundreds of µm. This cannot be done with nano-scale objects of a few nm, however, due to laser beam heating. We demonstrate how to manipulate microorganisms, DNA, and viruses indirectly using a gel microbead made from an aqueous poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide) solution. We reduced laser power for gel microbead formation, and used the gel microbead trapped by the laser to manipulate microorganisms, DNA, and viruses.

3D 6DOF Manipulation of Microbead by Laser Tweezers

Laser tweezers are suitable for manipulation of a single microscopic biological object. It can manipulate micro bio-object by noncontact in closed space. Single cell manipulation is important for biological research works, and 3D 6DOF manipulation (Position control and Orientation control) is useful technique in many biological experiments. Here we proposed 3D synchronized laser manipulation system by which we can manipulate multiple micro-objects along each designed trajectory in 3D space. Position and orientation of microbeads can be controlled by the newly developed 3D synchronized laser micromanipulation system. We succeeded in the orientation control of the microbead by using the laser trapped microtools. We demonstrate 3D 6DOF manipulation of the microbead by the experiment.