MiniTweezer: Optical Tweezers with Automation and Artificial Intelligence

ongoing

Optical tweezers have revolutionized various scientific disciplines, especially single-molecule research and single-cell mechanobiology. For example, they have played a fundamental role in understanding the folding dynamics and mechanical properties of DNA. In 2018, recognizing their importance, Arthur Ashkin was awarded a share of the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of optical tweezers and their application to biological systems. However, even though their broad range of applications attracts interest and potential users from many different fields, the expertise in optics and physics needed to operate optical tweezers has limited their accessibility to non-specialists. To address this challenge, we have developed a compact optical tweezer, named MiniTweezer, that is capable of autonomously performing advanced experiments thanks to its Python application programming interface (API) and its integration with advanced AI tools. We have already demonstrated its automation capabilities not only in the classical pulling of a DNA molecule, but also in stretching red blood cells (of interest for medical diagnostics) and in measuring electrostatic interactions between colloidal microparticles (of interest for the consumer goods industry). Preliminary market analyses show that the MiniTweezer is of great interest to academia and industry thanks to its ability to perform automatized and high-throughput experiments in life sciences and colloidal sciences. This project aims at improving the MiniTweezer to obtain a more user-friendly and powerful device and make it available to a broader research community to test in different use-case scenarios and to gather valuable end-user feedback. The ultimate goal of this project is to create a start-up company to commercialize the MiniTweezer.