MRI: Development of Confocal with Holographic Optical Manipulation in Parallel

授予芝加哥大学的这一奖项是为了表彰一种独特的仪器的开发，该仪器将能够同时对软材料样品和生物细胞进行三维成像和光学操作。该仪器将结合全息/扫描光学镊子和先进的共焦显微镜，具有光谱、热和磁控制功能。集成将通过一种新的方法实现，该方法将光学设计与仪器部件的3D打印相结合。这台新仪器将使凝聚态物理、物理化学和生物物理学的研究成为可能。此外，它还将使细胞生物学中的新型研究成为可能。这一仪器的发展将对芝加哥大学校园的研究产生直接影响，提供以前无法提供的能力。至关重要的是，它的影响将远远超出当地。将致力于光学与三维打印支撑结构的集成，以保持全息光学钳单元在显微镜上的位置。该设计将在网上提供，能够通过下载和打印(3D)立即转移完成的乐器的大部分，从而大大降低了这种乐器在世界各地其他机构复制的障碍。此外，在这一仪器的技术开发中学到的经验教训将通过高中和REU推广相结合，用于设计、印刷和组装低成本的研究替代方案和旨在将先进科学带入教室的非常低成本的可印刷显微镜工具包。

This award to the University of Chicago is for the development of a unique instrument that will enable simultaneous three-dimensional imaging and optical manipulation of soft material samples and biological cells. The instrument will combine hybrid Holographic/scanning optical tweezers with an advanced confocal microscope endowed with spectral, thermal, and magnetic control. The integration will be enabled by a novel approach that combines optical design with 3D printing of instrument parts. The new instrument will make possible research at the interface of condensed-matter physics, physical chemistry, and biophysics. Moreover, it will enable new types of investigations in cell biology. The development of this instrument will have a direct impact on research on the University of Chicago campus, providing previously unavailable capability. Crucially it will have an impact well beyond the local area. A significant effort will be dedicated to the integration of optics with three-dimensionally printed support structures that will hold the holographic optical tweezing unit in position on the microscope. The design will be made available online, enabling the immediate transfer of large portions of the finished instrument via download and printing (in 3D), thus significantly lowering the barrier for reproduction of this instrument at other institutions throughout the world. In addition, the lessons learned in the technological development of this instrument will be applied, through a combination of high-school and REU outreach, to the design, printing and assembly of both a lower-cost alternative for research and a very low-cost printable microscope kit aimed at bringing advanced science into classrooms.