This invention relates to optical trapping and, more particularly, to the optical trapping of microscopic particles, such as biological cells, for manipulation and experimentation.
A laser beam can interact with microscopic particles to produce radial forces on a particle to trap the particle on the beam axis. These optical traps have been found effective for trapping biological particles, i.e., bacteria, viruses, cells, etc., for experimental manipulation. See A. Ashkin et al., "Optical Trapping and Manipulation of Single Cells Using Infrared Laser Beams," 330 Nature, pp 769-771 (December 1987), incorporated herein by reference. Infrared laser beams with sufficient power to move the biological particles through a surrounding medium do not appear to interfere with normal biological functions. A sample cell is provided with a hollow glass fiber for use in separating and removing selected particles from the sample cell. However, the fiber containing the selected cells must be physically removed from the sample cells for further experimentation.
In another application of optical trapping, a stream of particles is formed in a laser beam and transported through an interrogation chamber for selecting particles with predetermined properties. When a particle is identified with the desired property, a second laser beam acts to remove the particle from the transport beam for removal and subsequent experimental use. See U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/126,156, filed Nov. 30, 1987, for "Laser Particle Sorter," now U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,721, issued Dec. 19, 1989, incorporated herein by reference.
It would be desirable to provide for experimentation on biological cells in a controlled and contained environment that can be suitably isolated from environmental contamination. Accordingly, it as an object of the present invention to provide a chamber that is suitable for biological particle optical manipulation and experimentation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide for introducing particles into a controlled environment for biological experiments.
Yet another object is to provide for optically introducing a plurality of biological particles into controlled compartments which can be selectively interconnected.
One other object is to provide a chamber with compartments that are connected for the introduction and circulation of cell and chromosome suspensions, culture media, and reagents.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.