Claims
- 1. In a method of direct extraction of material from a sample which comprises the steps of:
providing a sample; providing a transfer film which only upon activation at selected regions has a property to provide the selected regions thereof with adhesive characteristics to the sample; juxtaposing the sample with the transfer film; identifying at least one portion of material for extraction from the sample; directing a brief pulsed radiation beam of a preselected beam diameter and preselected pulse length onto the transfer film to activate a volume within the transfer film adjacent the sample so that an activated portion dependent upon pulse duration of the transfer film equal to or less than the preselected beam diameter adheres to the at least one portion of material of the sample; separating the transfer film from the sample while maintaining adhesion between the transfer film and the at least one portion of material of the sample so that the at least one portion of material of the sample is extracted from a remaining portion of the sample.
- 2. A method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claim 1 and further including:
the step of providing a transfer film includes providing a thermoplastic polymer with a large volume expansion associated with melting in order to create expansion and a driving force sufficient to force the melted polymer onto and into the targeted element so as to rapidly achieve a strong bond.
- 3. A method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claim 2 and further including:
the step of providing a transfer film includes providing an inert backing substrate on the top surface of the thermoplastic polymer which prevents the large volume expansion associated with melting from moving away from the desired target but rather causes the internal pressure created by the expanding polymer to force the melted polymer onto and into the targeted element so as to achieve a strong bond with the target.
- 4. A method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claim 1 and further including:
observing an optical interface between the sample and the transfer film during the directing step to determine that the at least one portion of the material of the sample adheres to the transfer film and the spatial extent of the bond in the image plane.
- 5. A method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claim 1 and further including:
increasing the preselected pulse length to increase the activated area of the transfer film.
- 6. A method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claim 1 and further including:
decreasing the preselected pulse length to decrease the activated area of the transfer film.
- 7. In a method of direct extraction of material from a sample which comprises the steps of:
providing a sample; providing a transfer film which only upon activation at selected regions has a property to provide the selected regions thereof with adhesive characteristics to the sample; juxtaposing the sample with the transfer film; identifying at least one portion of material of the sample which is to be extracted; directing a beam of a preselected beam diameter onto the transfer film melts, expands onto and forms a bond to activate the transfer film adjacent the sample so that an activated area of the transfer film adheres to the at least one portion of material of the sample; separating the transfer film from the sample while maintaining adhesion between the transfer film and the at least one portion of material of the sample so that the at least one portion of material is extracted from a remaining portion of the sample, the improvement to the method comprising:
adjusting the pulse duration of pulses to activate a volume of the transfer film with the preselected beam diameter for adherence to the at least one portion of material of the sample; and observing an optical interface between the sample and the transfer film during the directing step to determine that the at least one portion of the material of the sample adheres to the transfer film and the spatial extent of the bond in the image plane.
- 8. In the method of direct extraction of material according to claim 7 wherein:
adjusting the pulse duration to activate an area of the transfer film equal to or smaller than the preselected beam diameter for adherence to the at least one portion of material of the sample.
- 9. In the method of direct extraction of material according to claim 7 wherein:
lowering the pulse energy so that a single subthreshold pulse is just insufficient to activate the transfer film to any point on the sample; and, delivering a series of such subthreshold pulses to the transfer film in juxtaposition but not in contact with the at least one portion of material to be extracted until the transfer film bonds to the at least one portion of material to be extracted.
- 10. In the method of direct extraction of material according to claim 9 wherein:
lowering the pulse energy by decreasing pulse length.
- 11. In the method of direct extraction of material according to claim 9 wherein:
lowering the pulse energy by decreasing pulse power.
- 12. In the method of direct extraction of material according to claim 6 wherein:
delivering additional pulses after the first pulse which creates a bond in order to incrementally increase the diameter of the bonded region to a desired target.
- 13. In a method of direct extraction of material from a sample which comprises the steps of:
providing a sample; providing a transfer film which only upon activation at selected regions has a property to provide the selected regions thereof with adhesive characteristics to the sample; providing a backing on a side of the transfer film away from the sample; juxtaposing the sample to the transfer film on the other side of the transfer film; identifying at least one portion of material for extraction from the sample; directing a pulsed radiation beam of a preselected beam diameter and preselected pulse length onto the transfer film to activate a volume within the transfer film adjacent the sample so that an activated volume within the transfer film is against the backing and the activated volume on the other side of the transfer film moves an area of the transfer film equal to or less than the preselected beam diameter into adherence to the at least one portion of material of the sample; separating the transfer film from the sample while maintaining adhesion between the transfer film and the at least one portion of material of the sample so that the at least one portion of material of the sample is extracted from a remaining portion of the sample.
- 14. In a method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claim 13 and wherein:
observing an optical interface between the sample and the transfer film during the directing step to determine that the at least one portion of the material of the sample adheres to the transfer film and the spatial extent of the bond in the image plane.
- 15. In a method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claim 13 and wherein:
juxtaposing the sample to the transfer film includes contacting the sample with the transfer film.
- 16. In a method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claim 13 and wherein:
juxtaposing the sample to the transfer film includes having the transfer film at a spatial interval from the sample.
- 17. A method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claims 1 and 7 and further including:
the sample is a biological sample and the at least one portion of the sample is selected from a group consisting of tissue, cytology specimens, cellular organelles, chromosomes, and viruses.
- 18. A method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claim 1 and 4 and further including:
the sample is non living objects identifiable by microscopy and the at least one portion of the sample is an identifiable subset of non living objects identifiable by microscopy.
- 19. In a method of direct extraction of material from a sample which comprises the steps of:
providing a sample; providing a transfer film which only upon activation at selected regions has a property to provide the selected regions thereof with adhesive characteristics to the sample; juxtaposing the sample with the transfer film so that the transfer film is at a small interval from the sample; identifying at least one portion of material for extraction from the sample; directing a pulsed radiation beam of a preselected beam diameter and preselected pulse length onto the transfer film to activate a volume within the transfer film adjacent the sample so that an activated area of the transfer film equal to or less than the preselected beam diameter progressive advances to and just contacts the at least one portion of material of the sample; observing the contact between the transfer film and the at least one portion of material of the sample; directing a further pulsed radiation beam onto the contact at the sample to just cause adhesion between the transfer film and the sample; and, separating the transfer film from the sample while maintaining adhesion between the transfer film and the at least one portion of material of the sample so that the at least one portion of material of the sample is extracted from a remaining portion of the sample.
- 20. In a method of direct extraction of material from a sample according to claim 19 and including:
directing a still further pulsed radiation beam onto the contact at the sample to expand the area of the adhesion between the transfer film and the sample.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
PCT/US99/17150 |
Jul 1999 |
WO |
|
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/094,871, filed Jul. 30, 1998, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60094871 |
Jul 1998 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09495401 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Child |
10118487 |
Apr 2002 |
US |