Contact: Ben Stein
ben.stein@nist.gov
301-975-3097
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

'Femtomolar Optical Tweezers' May Enable Sensitive Blood Tests

Caption: Basic scheme of an optical tweezer-based sensor of biological particles. A microsphere covered with a specific antigen (such as a virus or other infectious agent) is trapped and pulled away from a surface containing the corresponding antibodies. The minimum amount of force applied to the tweezers to break the bonds can provide information on the concentration of antibodies on the surface.

Credit: NIST

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