Multifunctional manipulation of red blood cells using optical tweezers

Abstract

Serving as natural vehicles to deliver oxygen throughout the whole body, red blood cells (RBCs) have been regarded as important indicators for biomedical analysis and clinical diagnosis. Various diseases can be induced due to the dysfunction of RBCs. Hence, a flexible tool is required to perform precise manipulation and quantitative characterization of their physiological mechanisms and viscoelastic properties.Optical tweezers have emerged as potential candidates due to their noncontact manipulation and femtonewton-precision measurements. This review aimed to highlight the recent advances in the multifunctional manipulation of RBCs using optical tweezers, including controllable deformation, dynamic stretching, RBC aggregation, blood separation and Raman characterization. Further, great attentions have been focused on the precise assembly of functional biophotonics devices with trapped RBCs, and a brief overview was offered for the growing interests to manipulate RBCs in vivo.

Application of optical tweezers in cardiovascular research: More than just a measuring tool

“…RBCs are the major population of peripheral blood cells; they lack nuclei and are homogenous in content. By attaching optically levitated beads to RBC membranes or directly applying forces, an optical tweezer, usually complemented by other techniques, is able to rotate, aggregate and separate RBCs in multifunctional manners and measure their biophysical parameters, such as their membrane elasticity and Raman spectra ( Xie and Liu, 2022 ) ( Figure 4 ).…”

“…Understanding the cellular–molecular mechanisms of these processes requires the aid of a sophisticated nanomechanical tool that could measure biomechanical properties such as the force and elasticity of molecules and manipulate them to meet the needs of investigations on a nanoscopic scale. Since the first report of its application in cardiovascular research in the 1990s, optical tweezers have helped cardiovascular scientists not only investigate but also flexibly control the biophysics of single molecules such as proteins ( Kopylova et al, 2016 ; Hwang et al, 2021 ) and nucleic acids ( Wypijewska Del Nogal et al, 2021 ), cells ( Gentemann et al, 2017 ; Xie and Liu, 2022 ), organelles ( Tang et al, 2007 ), and microvessels ( Liu et al, 2020 ). These findings, although rooted in the most fundamental of scientific investigations, also have translational importance in putting forth novel drugs in modern medicine.…”

Red blood cell flickering activity locally controlled by holographic optical tweezers

“… 14 , 15 The micro-manipulation of red blood cells (RBCs), either by employing force-mediator beads 16 , 17 or by directly trapping the cell has been achievied. 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 A significant innovation can be the introduction of programmable holographic techniques, which allow for controlling both the amplitude and phase of the trapping optical field. 23 , 24 The advancement in coherent optics led to the development of holographic optical tweezers (HOTs), which can exert multiple dynamical optical traps in three dimensions.…”

Synthesis and use of red blood cells

“…In the pursuit of advancing the clinical application of artificial blood products, several notable studies have made significant contributions. Xie et al highlighted recent advances in the multifunctional manipulation of RBCs using optical tweezers, aiming to promote the clinical application of artificial blood products by enabling controllable deformation, dynamic stretching, RBC aggregation, blood separation, and Raman characterization [3]. In a comprehensive review, Allan Doctor discussed historical and new HBOC designs, including current state-of-the-art and novel bio-inspired artificial RBC designs in development, along with a critical analysis of successes and challenges in this field [4].…”