ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of optical cell sorting, based on optical tweezers, as a promising approach for developing micro fluorescence-activated cell sorting. It also presents a description of the principle behind optical trapping and cell sorting in microfluidic devices. The chapter focuses on the advances in coupling laser-based, optical sorting techniques with microfluidic devices to sort cells. It presents a brief overview of the fundamental principle of optical forces within the context of its implementation with laboratory-on-a-chip (LOC) devices as cell sorters. The concept of LOC is an emerging approach to integrating multiple bench-top functionalities into a single microfluidic chip only millimeters to a few square centimeters in size. The chapter discusses key characteristics along with inherent advantages using metrics to gauge performance. It provides a brief discussion on the limitations of the technology and ongoing efforts for novel applications.
