PALM laser Catapulting system

This is a PALM CombiSystem mounted on a Zeiss Axiovert 200M microscope. The setup is used primarily for manipulating cells with laser or selectively picking up cells or sub-cellular structures for biochemical analysis (e.g. single cell PCR). The workstation consists of a pulsed nitrogen laser, which allows precise cutting or micro-dissection. It is also equipped with an infrared laser for trapping and positioning cells.

Example applications for this system are:

1. Select morphologically identified cells/fragment of cells in pathological sample to study the sample biochemically.

2. Using the laser tweezers to physically position 2 cells together to study cell-cell interactions.

3. Selective ablation of cells in living tissue or cell culture.

Reference: http://www.graduate-studies-in-cancer-research.org/CIF/CIFequip5.htm