Programmable manipulation of motile cells in optoelectronic tweezers using a grayscale image

This paper describes a grayscale optoelectronic tweezers (OET) which allows adjustment of the electric field strength at each position of OET. A grayscale light image was used to pattern vertical electric field strength on an OET. As an electric field depends on the brightness at each point, the brighter light patterns generate the stronger electric field in the OET. Its feasibility for application to cell manipulation was demonstrated by aligning highly motile protozoan cells in vertical direction. Depending on the brightness of each pixel, the behaviors of aligned cells varied due to the different electric field strength to each cell.