Laser induced forward transfer isolating complex-shaped cell by beam shaping

Beam shaping techniques have been widely used in holographic optical tweezers to accurately manipulate tiny particles and hologram optimization algorithms have also been widely reported to improve the optical trapping performance. In this paper, we presented a beam shaping laser induced forward transfer (BS-LIFT) technique to isolate complex-shaped cells. To do this, we built up a BS-LIFT instrument which combined beam shaping methods and laser induced forward transfer using liquid-crystal-on-silicon spatial light modulator. The laser beam was modulated into multiple desired points at the focal plane employing the Gerchberg-Saxton (GS) algorithm. Feasibility was verified through transferring various samples. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of BS-LIFT applied to the transfer complex-shaped cells. We successfully transferred cells whose size ranged from 1 mu m to 100 mu m. Our design will provide a novel approach for the application of this beam shaping technique and the isolation of single cells with variable shapes. (c) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

A new beam shaping laser induced forward transfer (BS-LIFT) technique was proposed for isolating complex-shaped cells. By combining beam shaping methods and laser induced forward transfer, successful transfer of cells with different shapes was achieved, providing a novel approach for the application of beam shaping techniques in cell isolation.