Auxiliary Optomechanical Tools for 3D Cell Manipulation

TL;DR

This paper introduces advanced 3D optomechanical tools fabricated via direct laser writing, enabling precise manipulation of biological cells, including out-of-plane rotation, with potential applications in cell tomography and surgery.

Contribution

It demonstrates the first full 3D manipulation of biological objects using DLW-fabricated optomechanical tools, overcoming previous limitations in out-of-plane control.

Findings

Achieved out-of-plane rotation of a living cell in liquid.

Demonstrated full 3D manipulation capabilities.

Paved the way for biological applications like cell tomography.

Abstract

Advances in laser and optoelectronic technologies brought the general concept of optomechanical manipulation to the level of standard biophysical tools, paving ways towards controlled experiments and measurements of tiny mechanical forces. Recent developments in direct laser writing (DLW), enabled the realization of new types of micron-scale optomechanical tools, capable of performing designated functions. Here we further develop the concept of DLW-fabricated optomechanically-driven tools and demonstrate full-3D manipulation capabilities over biological objects. In particular, we resolved a long-standing problem of out-of-plane rotation in a pure liquid, which was demonstrated on a living cell, clamped between a pair of forks, designed for efficient manipulation with holographic optical tweezers. The demonstrated concept paves new ways towards realization of flexible tools for performing on-demand functions over biological objects, such as cell tomography and surgery to name just few.