Hiroki Hagihara

Single cell isolation from micro-fluid utilizing femtosecond laser-induced impulsive force

We demonstrated a new single cell isolation method utilizing femtosecond laser-induced deposition. Micro sphere was dispersed in an aqueous solution as a phantom of the cell and it was introduced into mm-sized well. The well was placed upside down on a microscope stage and then the laser was shot near the air/liquid surface. The laser-shot caused a droplet formation on the surface and the sphere near the laser focus was drawn into the droplet. Fall of the droplet resulted in transfer of the sphere from the liquid layer to the target substrate. Spatial selectivity of intake of the sphere would range 50–130 μm. Since diameter of the typical animal cell is to be 30 μm, the selectivity could be comparable to the single animal cell but also larger biological samples such as cell aggregation.