Cell nanosurgery using ultrashort (femtosecond) laser pulses: Applications to membrane surgery and cell isolation

Background and Objectives: Membrane surgery and nanosurgical cell isolation using high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses is reported. Study Design/Materials and Methods: We demonstrate the applicability of using ultrashort (femtosecond) laser pulses for performing surgery on live mammalian cells. When sub-10 femtosecond pulses were focused onto the cell, precise sub-micron surgical cuts were made on the biological membrane. Results and Conclusions: Traversing the cells relative to the focused laser spot, we report on localized nanosurgical ablation of focal adhesion adjoining epithelial cells. In each study, the surgery was conducted without morphologically compromising the cells.