Optical Tweezers & 3D Particle Tracking System

JPK Instruments introduces the new NanoTracker Photonic Force Microscope, combining optical tweezers and 3D particle tracking. It delivers live cell imaging, simultaneous to trapping and tracking of particles from several µm down to 30 nm. The ability to control, manipulate and observe vesicles, endosomes, gene and drug spheres, viruses or bacteria, nanoprobes or carriers, biomarkers or even whole cells in real time with nanometer precision is key. Applications range from single-molecule and biopolymer studies to cell membranes, cell-particle interaction, viral and bacterial infection, and many more.

Up to now optical tweezers systems with 3D detection have been home-built by individual researchers for their own needs. There are variants consisting of different laser set-ups, single or multiple optical traps and different optical detection techniques. JPKs NanoTracker offers the first system with full integration into an inverted research microscope and complete environmental control of the sample as a turn-key solution. Experiments requiring long-term system stability benefit from the ultra-stable 1064nm laser, the compact, folded optical pathway and the drift-compensated design.

Key Features

• Dual-beam optical tweezers with calibrated 3D force/displacement detection
• Force spectroscopy with lowest forces down to 0.1 pN
• 3D particle tracking with nanometer precision with highest bandwith
• No perturbation of the biological system through IR laser source
• Real-time data acquisition - essential both for single-molecule and living cell studies
• Reproducible and calibrated data
• Quantitative results from mechanical properties to diffusion
• User-friendly and flexibly designed software with Point and Trap functionality