Intellectual Property Law

US Patent 7647848 - Simultaneous inspection and nanomanipulation

This patent is from Drexel University's Cell and Protein Mechanics Lab and teaches a system that integrated an atomic force microscope with a nanomanipulation tool to simultaneously image and strain biological samples. Claim 1 reads:

1. A device for simultaneous inspection and manipulation of a sample, said device comprising:

a base unit;

a sample holder mounted on said base unit;

an inspection device operatively associated with said base unit for inspecting a sample on said sample holder; and

at least one nano-manipulator mounted in an operative position on said base unit to permit manipulation of the sample on said sample holder to deform said sample by exerting a force on said sample using said at least one nano-manipulator;

wherein said at least one nano-manipulator is mounted such that manipulation of the sample does not prevent operative inspection of said sample by said inspection device during or after manipulation of the sample.

Full post as published by TinytechIP on January 20, 2010 (boomark / email).