Mar 4 2011
Optics scientists at the universities Bristol and Glasgow have created an iPad software to utilize optical tweezers easily and precisely.
According to the scientists, optical tweezers are used to control small particles by using highly concentrated laser beams and are key equipment for majority of molecular biology experiments. The scientists used them to analyze the microscopic procedures of organisms.
The research on optical tweezers has been published in the Journal of Optics. The report discusses the scientists’ effort to overcome the restrictions of joystick controlled systems and computer mouse via the new iPad application design. The functionality of joystick or computer mouse frequently restricts the manipulation of the lasers in optical tweezers. This makes it complex to control the multi-particles in the range of directions.
The multi-touch-based software provides a clear three-dimensional view of the particle systems and offers several techniques such as tilting the iPad or pinching the screen, for moving or rotating single and multiple particles up and down and right and left. The software will also provide laser protection and eliminate contamination of the experiment through iPad’s wireless functionality.
According to the scientists, the interface is convenient to use and even beginners can trap particles, rotate them around and convert the microscope stage. By utilizing an altered version of optical tweezers’ control application on a host PC and a specific application on the iPad, the iPad-based interface offers instinctual control of a holographic optical tweezers system, they added.
Source: http://www.bris.ac.uk