Open AccessAnalysis of the behaviour of erythrocytes in an optical trapping system
Author(s) -
Sumi C. Grover,
Robert C. Gauthier,
André G. Skirtach
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.7.000533
Subject(s) - optical tweezers , trapping , optical force , sorting , optics , torque , orientation (vector space) , beam (structure) , physics , trap (plumbing) , optical axis , materials science , computer science , mathematics , thermodynamics , biology , ecology , geometry , lens (geology) , programming language , meteorology
We present a theoretical analysis of the behaviour of erythrocytes in an optical trapping system. We modeled erythrocyte behaviour in an optical trap by an algorithm which divided the cell surface into a large number of elements and recursively summed the force and torque on each element. We present a relationship between the torque and angle of orientation of the cell, showing that stable equilibrium orientations are at angles of 0 o , 180 o and 360 o and unstable equilibrium orientations are at 90 o and 270 o relative to the axis of beam propagation. This is consistent with our experimental observations and with results described in the literature. We also model behaviour of the erythrocyte during micromanipulation by calculating the net force on it. Such theoretical analysis is practical as it allows for the optimization of the optical parameters of a trapping system prior to performing a specific optical micromanipulation application, such as cell sorting or construction of a cell pattern for lab-on-a-chip applications.