Development of the single-microparticle total analysis system driven by optical tweezers

Nov 21, 2023 · 1 min read

* Figure: Modified from Ref.1

Microparticles in the environment, such as microplastics and mineral dust, have a risk of acting as vectors of organic and inorganic pollutants, as they can attach such pollutants on their surfaces. However, current known methods for analyzing them is still limited, especially in the sense of analyses for individual particles.
In this research, we propose a contept of Single-microparticle Total Analysis System Driven by Optical Tweezers. In this system, sample particles are manipulated by optical tweezers, then analyzed in detail by touching to the objects called ‘Analysis ports’ multiple times. Currently, as a proof of concept, we demonstrated selective surface analyses (detection of fluorescence on some area of a particle’s surface) in the experiment.

マイクロプラスチックや鉱物性の粉塵などの環境中微粒子は，その表面に有機・無機の汚染物質を付着させ，汚染物質を媒介するリスクを持っています．しかしながら，これら粒子を分析する手段，特に個々の微粒子に着目して分析する手段は，現状非常に限られています．
そこで本研究では，光ピンセット駆動単一微粒子総合分析システムと題する新しいシステムの概念を提案します．このシステムでは，試料粒子は光ピンセットで操作され，「分析ポート」と呼ばれる物体たちに複数回接触させることで詳細な分析が行われます．現時点では，概念実証として，選択的表面分析（ある粒子表面の特定の領域の蛍光の検出）に成功しています．

Articles

  1. R. Omine, Y. Liu, S. Masui, S. Kadoya, M. Michihata, and S. Takahashi, “A novel single-microparticle total analysis system driven by optical tweezers,” presented at the The 10th International Conference of Asian Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (ASPEN), 2023.
    Article Link (Accessed Jun 26, 2024).
    This conference presentation was awarded as Best Paper Award.
    この学会発表はBest Paper Awardを受賞しました．