MMI Molecular Machines and Industries Cell Manipulator

The new generation of multibeam optical tweezers. The Molecular Machines & Industries CellManipulator is an optical trap that enables ultraprecise, contact-free manipulation of microscopic particles. The optical tweezers use a focused laser beam to trap, move and position single cells or sub-cellular and microscopic particles in a size range of approximately 0.1 micro - 200 micro.

Molecular Machines & Industries CellManipulator is an optical trap that enables ultraprecise, contact-free manipulation of microscopic particles. The optical tweezers use a focused laser beam to trap, move and position single cells or sub-cellular and microscopic particles in a size range of approximately 0.1 micro – 200 micro.

The trapping action of optical tweezers is created because optical gradient force is more powerful than scattering and absorption forces. The trap itself is created by the effects of pressure generated by strongly focused laser light. A transparent particle with a refractive index greater than the medium inevitably moves towards the center of the beam, resulting in three-dimensional trapping.

Specially designed optics introduce the laser beam through the epifluorescence port of an inverted microscope. The same lens is used to view and trap particles immersed in a liquid.

Molecular Machines & Industries CellManipulator traps particles using a high-quality, YAG-type infrared laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm and 3 W trapping power. The wavelength was chosen because it does not destroy living organisms.

Key Features

multibeam operation with up to ten tweezer points

contact-free movement of selected particles

easy operation

hassle-free combination with other MMI instruments, such as mmi CellCut and mmi Cellector

Molecular Machines & Industries CellManipulator is compatible with most standard inverse microscopes used for research purposes

Applications

Molecular Machines & Industries CellManipulator is used in the following areas

cell sorting

cell fusion

cell-cell interactions

measurement of binding forces or viscosities

neuroscience-related applications