Patent ID: 8057655

Claim:
A method for controlling a fluid-born sub-micron object, the method comprising: detecting positional information for the sub-micron object at different times; capturing images at a video frame rate by performing steps including: averaging a multitude of captured images and, in response thereto, constructing a background image from the captured images, extracting a sub-image from a captured image of the sub-micron object, the sub-image being smaller than the captured image and including an image of the sub-micron object, subtracting the constructed background image from the sub-image, calculating the center of mass for the sub-micron object in the sub-image, and for a subsequent captured image of the sub-micron object, re-centering the location of a subsequent sub-image to be taken of the subsequent image as a function of the calculated center of mass of the sub-micron object, and extracting a subsequent sub-image from the subsequent image at the re-centered location; repeatedly detecting motion from the captured images, and a directional component thereof, of the sub-micron object as a function of the detected positional information at each different time; and applying an electrokinetic force to the sub-micron object as a function of the video frame rate and a directional component of the electrokinetic force that is responsive to and in opposition to the determined directional component of the repeatedly detected motion of the sub-micron object, thereby mitigating motion of the sub-micron object.