title: Femtosecond laser fabricated monolithic chip for optical trapping and stretching of single cells.
abstract: We report on the fabrication by a femtosecond laser of an optofluidic device for optical trapping and stretching of single cells. Versatility and three-dimensional capabilities of this fabrication technology provide straightforward and extremely accurate alignment between the optical and fluidic components. Optical trapping and stretching of single red blood cells are demonstrated, thus proving the effectiveness of the proposed device as a monolithic optical stretcher. Our results pave the way for a new class of optofluidic devices for single cell analysis, in which, taking advantage of the flexibility of femtosecond laser micromachining, it is possible to further integrate sensing and sorting functions.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie - CNR and Dipartimento di Fisica - Politecnico di Milano, P zza L da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bellini
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Vishnubhatla
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bragheri
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Minzioni
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramponi
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cristiani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Osellame
mesh_terms: D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D052898:Optical Tweezers; D013997:Time Factors