New haptic microscope technique allows researchers to ‘feel’ microworld.
What if you could reach through a microscope to touch and feel the microscopic structures under the lens? In a breakthrough that may usher in a new era in the exploration of the worlds that are a million times smaller than human beings, researchers at Université Pierre et Marie Curie in France have unveiled a new technique that allows microscope users to manipulate samples using a technology known as “haptic optical tweezers.”
Featured in the journalReview of Scientific Instruments这是由AIP Publishing生产的，新技术使用户可以通过与触觉光学镊子的被困微球传感和施加piconewton尺度的力来探索微世界，从而改善了微观渗透和微型组装的敏捷性。
该研究的合着者Cecile Pacoret说：“获得的最初结果是有希望的，并证明了光学镊子具有对微世界的触觉探索的重要潜力。”“触觉光学镊子将成为生物样品以及纳米和微型材料部件的强制反馈微观渗透的宝贵工具。”
One of the challenges in developing this technique was to sense and magnify piconewton-scale forces enough to enable human operators to perceive interactions that they have never experienced before, such as adhesion phenomena, extremely low inertia, and high frequency dynamics of extremely small objects, like the Brownian motion. The design of optical tweezers for high quality touch-based feedback is challenging, given the requirements for very high sensitivity and dynamic stability.
这项研究需要混合不同的实验技术和理论知识。Institut desSystèmesIntelligents et de Robotique的实验室在微型机构和触觉方面都具有专业知识，但随着该项目的进行，研究团队意识到他们需要在大学提供的光学和视觉方面的更多专业知识。Pacoret博士说：“没有这个多学科的环境和国际光学镊子社区的额外合作，这个项目是不可能的。”“高水平的跨学科合作使该项目变得独一无二，并为其成功做出了贡献。”
The ability to use touch as a tool to allow exploration, diagnosis and assembly of widespread types of elements from sensors, microsystems to biomedical elements, including cells, bacteria, viruses, and proteins is a real advance for laboratories. These objects are fragile, and their dimensions make them difficult to see under microscope. If this tool can restore the sense of touch under microscopic operation, it will help not only efficiency but also expand scientific creativity, said Dr. Pacoret, adding that she and her team are excited about the possibilities.
“This tool will offer a new degree of freedom and accessibility to researchers, providing, for example, new versatility for the study and micromanipulation of cells,” she said.
Filed Under:Rapid prototyping
