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Flexible, stretchable, on-chip optical tweezers for high-throughput bioparticle manipulation
Ziyi He1, Jianyun Xiong1, Yang Shi1
1Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Manipulation, Institute of Nanophotonics, College of Physics & Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Light, Science & Applications
|February 3, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed flexible, stretchable, on-chip optical tweezers (FSOT) for high-throughput manipulation of bioparticles. This technology enables precise control and analysis of cells and pathogens in complex biological environments.
Area of Science:
- Biophotonics
- Nanotechnology
- Microfluidics
Background:
- Traditional optical tweezers have limitations in throughput, functionality, and adaptability for on-chip bioparticle manipulation in dynamic bioenvironments.
- High-throughput trapping and manipulation of individual pathogenic bioparticles are crucial for in-vitro diagnostics and drug screening.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop flexible and stretchable on-chip optical tweezers (FSOT) for high-throughput bioparticle manipulation in complex biological microenvironments.
- To enable precise control and analysis of bioparticles, including pathogens and cells, on flexible and curved biological substrates.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of FSOT using large-scale, orderly assembled microlenses leveraging the photonic nanojet effect.
- Demonstration of high-throughput trapping, sorting, and modulation of bioparticles (exosomes, bacteria, mammalian cells) ranging from sub-100 nm to tens of micrometers.
- Assessment of FSOT flexibility, deformability, and stretchability for manipulation in curved bio-substrates and for controlling inter-cellular distances.
Main Results:
- FSOT enabled high-throughput trapping and sorting of individual bioparticles using the photonic nanojet effect from up to 1000 microlenses.
- The system demonstrated high flexibility for bioparticle manipulation in complex and curved biological microenvironments.
- FSOT's stretchability allowed real-time modulation and monitoring of interactions between pathogenic bacteria and macrophages by controlling inter-cellular distances.
Conclusions:
- FSOT represents a novel class of on-chip optical tweezers with high flexibility and stretchability for advanced bioparticle manipulation.
- This technology holds significant promise for high-throughput dynamic analysis of bioparticles and revealing inter-cellular interactions.
- FSOT offers a powerful integrated platform for precise drug screening and understanding host-pathogen dynamics.
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