Patent ID: 8691151

Claim:
A particle sorting apparatus comprising: (a) a particle sorter, comprising: i. a substrate comprising two or more chambers, wherein said chambers are recessed into the substrate, and wherein said chambers are sized to accommodate a desired number of particles; ii. at least one inlet for the introduction of fluids comprising particles into said chambers, whereby one or more particles in said fluid are introduced into said sorter via said inlet to occupy said chambers; iii. at least one outlet for the collection of a fluid comprising particles from said chambers; and iv. a first region in fluid communication with an inlet valve and an outlet valve configured to accommodate a fluid flow between said inlet and outlet valves, wherein said region abuts and is in fluid communication with said chambers; (b) a detection system operationally connected to said sorter configured to detect desired particles for removal from said sorter; and (c) a controllable optical force source operationally connected to said sorter applying an optical force to said detected particles whose sorting is desired, wherein said optical force has a beam waist about comparable to a diameter of said detected particles, and wherein said optical force is configured to levitate said desired particle from the chamber it occupies to said fluid flow in said first region and thereby convey said desired particle to said outlet for removal from said sorter.