Laser cell purification system

Abstract

A process and apparatus for cell purification and ablation is disclosed. The present invention comprises a laser system which directs radiant energy at computer or manually selected individual cells thereby disrupting DNA, RNA and protein structure in those cells. The present invention produces a purified tissue section containing relatively intact DNA, RNA or protein from only the untreated cells. This purified sample is suitable for amplification of material by PCR or other techniques for the analysis of molecular genetic features in the selected cells of interest.

1 . An image capture method for identifying and selecting specific target cells based upon predetermined selection criteria in a tissue section having a heterogenous population of cells, comprising: 
 (a) supporting said tissue section on a tissue support under a microscope with an objective for viewing said tissue section;    (b) scanning said tissue section with a video camera to produce a mosaic of video images representing said tissue section;    (c) optionally displaying said mosaic of video images;    (d) analyzing each frame of said mosaic of video images based upon said predetermined target cell selection criteria; and    (e) selecting target cells based upon said predetermined target cell selection criteria.    
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein said analysis and selection are performed automatically by a computer.