Optical manipulation and sensing for biomedical applications

Optical tools offer a tremendous opportunity in order to probe, measure, and visualize processes from the subcellular scale to whole organs. We are working on several projects that use light to either turn cellular activity on and off or measure forces of biological interaction. Automated optical systems are being developed to excite cardiac cells and neuronal networks. Using a technique called optogenetics, which combines genetic modification and optics, the activity of light-sensitive cells can be stimulated and the process simultaneously visualized with fluorescent reporters that can be used to spatially control the delivery of light for targeted stimulation in various biological samples such as cell monolayers, artificial tissues, and in vivo, and may form the basis for the next generation of neuroimplants. In addition, the group is developing optical techniques in combination with microfluidics to exert forces and study molecular interactions in living cells. Optical tweezers in combination with sensitive detection methods are ideally suited to apply and measure external forces with magnitudes down to the sub-pico-Newton range (Riesenberg et al., 2020).

For sensing applications, especially in implanted medical devices, there is a need to use soft, flexible and biocompatible materials. In this context, we propose the use of biocompatible polymers to build optical components that could enable light transmission and optical sensing of biochemical changes in an in vivo environment (Torres-Mapa et al., 2019). This could potentially replace brittle optical fibers for light transmission and facilitate long-term monitoring of biological signals.