Effective removal of adhering cells via ultrashort laser pulses

A technique for accurately and effectively removing adhering red blood cells in a blood plasma thin film via a picosecond pulsed laser was developed. The laser beam was focused to the surface of the film to generate plasma-mediated ablation and an automated stage was employed for raster scan. The SEM images showed that the red blood cells distributed in the ablation scanned area were removed neatly, leaving the surroundings and the film base intact. For cells across the boundary between the ablated and untreated areas, a trim cutting interface was observed. Complete ablation of red blood cells in the target area is achieved without visible thermal and collateral damage in the remaining structure. The removal method is very effective because it is not necessary to selectively focus a laser beam on individual target cells and remove cells one by one. The ablation is scanned over a certain size of area, enabling practical cell killing or microbial decontamination in clinical/industrial scale.