Ultrasensitive detection of cell lysing in an microfabricated semiconductor laser cavity

摘要

In this paper the authors report investigations of semiconductor laser microcavities for use in detecting changes of human blood cells during lysing. By studying the spectra before and during mixing of blood fluids with de- ionized water, they are able to quantify the cell shape and concentration of hemoglobin in real time during the dynamical process of lysing. The authors find that the spectra can detect subtle changes that are orders of magnitude smaller than can be observed by standard optical microscopy. Such sensitivity in observing cell structural changes has implications for measuring cell fragility, monitoring apoptotic events in real time, development of photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy, and in-vitro cell micromanipulation techniques.