title: Cell nanosurgery using ultrashort (femtosecond) laser pulses: applications to membrane surgery and cell isolation.
abstract: Membrane surgery and nanosurgical cell isolation using high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses is reported. 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. 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ultrafast Photonics and Nano-Optics Laboratory, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2V4, Canada.
authors.forename: Vikram
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kohli
authors.forename: Abdulhakem Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Elezzabi
authors.forename: Jason P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Acker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006224:Cricetinae; D004285:Dogs; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors