Optical Tweezers

CellManipulator

Manipulate single cells and sub-cellular structures with precision  

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accelerates-life-science

Accelerates Life-Science Understanding at the Inter- and Intra-Cellular Level

The MMI CellManipulator optical tweezers provide a precise approach to manipulating particles at the microscopic level, enabling researchers to non-invasively handle single cells and delicate sub-cellular structures with exceptional control. By allowing fully contact-free positioning and movement, the CellManipulator optical tweezers preserve the integrity and viability of even the most sensitive samples. This combination of precision and ease of use not only enhances experimental reliability, but also accelerates discoveries in cell biology, molecular research, and a wide range of biomedical applications.  

Empowering Precision at the Nanoscale

Keep it Flexible

CellManipulator: The optical tweezers system designed for maximum flexibility. Compatible with almost all inverted or upright research microscopes. It can be integrated with fluorescence, TIRF, confocal microscopy, and many more customized adaptations. 

Huge Work Space

The entire laser beam control of the optical tweezers is located underneath the trapping lens. This open-space architecture provides unrivalled free space above the optical trap. Perfect for customizable force measurements and other applications. 

Become an Expert in 10 min

With the intuitive and flexible MMI CellTools analysis software, you can simply organize and manipulate your optical traps. Optical trapping was never so easy. 

Engineered for Versatile Use, with Unyielding Trap Power

Trapped particles cannot escape the experiments inside a petri dish, microfluidic chamber, or simply on a glass surface using the optical tweezers. Never lose your particle with 1200 pN of escape force. 

Engineered for Precise & Reliable Force Measurements

Tailor your force spectroscopy setup to your needs—choose imaging-based detection for larger sample workspaces or forward interferometric position sensing for sub-piconewtons force resolution. 

Designed for High-Modularity Integration

The compact MMI optical tweezers is a modular system, which can be composed individually according to your needs and experimental requirements. It is compatible with all other MMI Single Cell Solutions (e.g. CellCut & CellEctor)   

How the CellManipulator works

CellManipulator Optical Tweezers: Empowering Precision at the Nanoscale
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CellManipulator at a Glance

cellmanipulator

Software 

User-friendly CellTools software for data acquisition, visualisation, and interpretation.

Imaging Mode

Imaging-based force spectroscopy. Automatic optical trap stiffness calibration with no compromise in the sample workspace. 

Multi-Trap

  • Time shared up to 20 particles (Galvo steered)

  • Time shared up to 200 particles (AOM steered) 

Back-Focal Plane Mode

Forward Interferometric position detection-based force spectroscopy. Automatic optical trap stiffness calibration with sub-piconewton resolution. 

Flexibility 

Compatible with leading inverted or upright research microscopes 

Software 

User-friendly CellTools software for data acquisition, visualisation, and interpretation.

Imaging Mode

Imaging-based force spectroscopy. Automatic optical trap stiffness calibration with no compromise in the sample workspace. 

Multi-Trap

  • Time shared up to 20 particles (Galvo steered)

  • Time shared up to 200 particles (AOM steered) 

Back-Focal Plane Mode

Forward Interferometric position detection-based force spectroscopy. Automatic optical trap stiffness calibration with sub-piconewton resolution. 

Flexibility 

Compatible with leading inverted or upright research microscopes 

MMI CellManipulator
Research Applications

Study of Cell-Cell Interactions and Binding Forces

The MMI optical tweezers enable the manipulation of cells to promote cell-cell interactions and directly measure their binding forces while maintaining complete control over the cell’s orientation and the time of the cell-cell contact. This is incredibly valuable for conducting dynamic studies on cell-cell interaction forces and measuring cell avidity with single-cell resolution.

Control cell orientation and contact time

cell-interactions

Intracellular Manipulation

Another common application of optical tweezers is to study the role of the nucleus in mechanotransduction by measuring the force and material properties that shape the cell nucleus inside living cells. Internalised microparticles, like lipid droplets, enable the stretching and indenting of the cell nucleus while monitoring time-force and time-displacement curves. Therefore, with the MMI CellManipulator optical tweezers, it becomes feasible to gather information about viscoelastic properties and stiffness of the cell nucleus.

Measuring nucleus mechanics

Intracellular Manipulations

Molecular Motor Studies

Thanks to numerous technical improvements, optical trapping with the MMI CellManipulator allows synthesizing up to 10 multiple independent optical traps and to measure the forces of motor proteins in sub-pN resolution.

 

In optical tweezers experiments, the molecule of interest needs to be attached at two points: one end to a small microparticle, and the other end to a fixed substrate or a second microparticle in a separate optical trap. The following visualization shows two typical applications to study motor proteins: 

  1. Measurement of the stall force of dynein motor proteins transporting vesicles along microtubules and
  2. Studying actomyosin interaction with a dual-beam trap.

Measuring motor protein sub-pN forces

Molecular motor studies

Laser Tweezers Raman Spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy is an analytical technique, based on the inelastic scattering of photons upon interacting with matter. The inelastic scattered photons have different wavelengths/colours compared to the incoming photons generated from the light source. The spectrum generated is dependent on the chemistry of the object. Raman spectroscopy in life science is used to perform so-called “molecular fingerprinting”. Each protein has a unique biochemistry and therefore generates a unique Raman spectrum. The combination of the MMI optical tweezers with Raman spectroscopy can be applied to detect the upregulation of specific proteins in cancer cells.

Obtain the molecular fingerprint

Laser Tweezers Raman Spectroscopy

Isolation and Manipulation of Rare Cells

Combining optical tweezers and microfluidic chip technologies enables the isolation and manipulation of rare cells with high recovery and purity, which is crucial for downstream multi-omics profiling.

 

The combination of the MMI CellManipulator optical tweezers with microfluidic chip technology enables the real-time sorting of small cell populations with high accuracy. The systemstarts by using a laminar flow to focus the targeted cells. The optical tweezers can then precisely move the cell in a non-invasive manner to the desired destination. In contrast to traditional cell sorting technologies, such as flow cytometry, cell sorting with optical tweezers has the unique advantage of its high recovery rate, flexibility, and purity in small cell population sorting.
 

Cell Sorting with optical tweezers

Isolation and manipulation of rare cells

The MMI CellManipulator optical tweezers was customized on an upright microscope upon our request. 

 

The optical tweezers has been working reliably, with excellent manipulation power and flexibility on various devices, from simply glass slides to microelectrodes on silicon. 

 

The MMI service was also professional, fast and considerate.

Chengxun Liu

Chengxun Liu

Bio-Nano Electronics Department 

Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), Leuven, Belgium

CellManipulator in Action

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Formation of Cytoplasmic protrusions 

Trapping bacterium

Detaching bacterium 

Trapping diatom 

Formation of Cytoplasmic protrusions 
Trapping bacterium
Detaching bacterium 
Trapping diatom 

CellManipulator Specifications

Feature
Description
Laser Source

Universal Laser

  • Ytterbium Fiber Laser CW, 1064 nm, up to 20W nominal output power 
  • M2 = 1
Objective
  • Type = 100x Oil Immersion Objective
  • NA = 1.3
Optical Tweezers
  • Escape Force > 1200 pN (At laser wavelength 1064 nm, measured on 3 um polystyrene bead inside water 1-2 um above the cover slip)
  • Spot Size = 1 um
Condenser Lens
  • NA = 0.72 – 0.9
  • Working distance = 5 – 13 mm
Stage

  • Piezo Stage Minimum Step Size = 0.01 um (lateral)

  • Piezo Stage Field of Movement = 0.1 x 0.1 mm

Downloads

Brochure / Fact Sheet

Its a Trap

CellManipulator Fact Sheet

Application Notes

Force Spectroscopy using Optical Tweezers

Acousto-Optic Modulator-Based Optical Trapping

Optical trapping and force spectroscopy of non-spherical rod-shaped bacteria and diatoms

Publications Featuring

MMI Optical Tweezers

Available Product

Configurations

mounted-on-nikon-ti2

CellManipulator

Mounted on Nikon Ti2

mounted-on-zeiss-axio-observer

CellManipulator

Mounted on Zeiss Axio Observer

Frequently Asked
Questions