The Force Measurement module of the PALM RoboSoftware enables the quantitative measurement of the forces of microscopic specimens with the PALM MicroTweezers from Carl Zeiss. The new module allows users in the fields of life sciences, materials sciences and pharmacy to measure cell elasticity, molecular binding properties or plasma membrane features of biological specimens, for example.
The intuitive and flexible user interface ensures easy operation of the Force Measurement module. Users can define their own test configurations, i.e. the software guarantees high freedom of experimentation. The module also enables the use of the PALM MicroTweezers system for pure specimen manipulation as well as for position detection and quantitative force measurement so that direct comparisons of the measuring results with data from trade literature are now possible. Various calibration routines for the characterization of the optical tweezers are performed and evaluated automatically at the push of a button. All relevant data and images are stored to completely document each experiment and each calibration procedure. The module visualizes the measuring data in real time.
Because the Force Measurement module requires no additional hardware, time-consuming adjustment and calibration are a thing of the past. The FM StarterKit that comes with the software module contains the FluidCell component, which permits fast and easy sample preparation, particularly for force measurement experiments.
PALM MicroTweezers and the Force Measurement module can be combined with various solutions from Carl Zeiss such as the PALM MicroBeam or Colibri.