Ultrafast laser inscribed devices for cell manipulation

Ultrafast laser inscription and selective chemical inscription has been used to fabricate buried microfluidic channels in fused silica and integrated waveguides for controlled particle manipulation. Microspheres flowing within the channel are deflected using the optical scattering force of the laser light emitted into the channel from the embedded waveguide. The effect of laser power and flow velocities for controllably displacing microscopic particles within the microfluidic channel is investigated. Complex 3D microfluidic structures have been written which can focus the particle flow, allowing every particle in the sample to be addressed by the waveguide. This work paves the way for high throughput cell selection, isolation and sorting devices.