title: Combined optical micromanipulation and interferometric topography (COMMIT).
abstract: Optical tweezers have emerged as a prominent light-based tool for pico-Newton (pN) force microscopy in mechanobiological studies. However, the efficacy of optical tweezers are limited in applications where concurrent metrology of the nano-sized structures under interrogation is essential to the quantitative analysis of its mechanical properties and various mechanotransduction events. We have developed an all-optical platform delivering pN force resolution in parallel with nano-scale structural imaging of the biological sample by combining optical tweezers with interferometric quantitative phase microscopy. These capabilities allow real-time micromanipulation and label-free measurement of sample's nanostructures and nanomechanical responses, opening avenues to a wide range of new research possibilities and applications in biology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside. 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarshar
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside. 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Thompson
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside. 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Bahman
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Anvari
keywords: (120.0120) Instrumentation, measurement, and metrology; (180.3170) Interference microscopy; (350.4855) Optical tweezers or optical manipulation