Optofluidics today announced the availability of a novel nanoparticle analysis and manipulation system called the NanoTweezer. The new system captures, manipulates, and analyzes individual nanoscale objects in high numbers including proteins aggregates, viruses, bacteria, and inorganic nanoparticles.
The NanoTweezer uses proprietary nanophotonic waveguide technology to measure the most important properties of nanoparticles including size, shape and coating quality. The NanoTweezer is a plug-and-play attachment to standard microscopes.
“Optofluidics’ NanoTweezer is the only commercial tool which enables true manipulation and analysis of a single nanoparticle, bacterium, virus, or even protein aggregates,” said David Erickson, chairman of Optofluidics. “The ability to obtain data on single particle as well assess multi-particle interactions is unprecedented.”
The system guides laser light into tiny waveguides within a flow cell. The light emanating from the waveguides acts like a tractor beam which captures and illuminates nanoparticles. The availability of this system can significantly impact pharmaceutical drug development, environmental health, materials science and energy. Applications include protein aggregate analysis, single particle spectroscopy (including Raman), coating measurements, shape analysis, pigment analysis, and submicron particle imaging.
About Optofluidics
Optofluidics, Inc. is a venture backed life-sciences company that is developing sub-micron particle analysis and imaging systems based on NanoTweezer technology. Our investors and development partners include BioAdvance, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners. In 2012 Optofluidics was named Philadelphia Life Sciences startup of the year.