Destructive effect induced by focused ultra-short pulsed laser has been used to perform micro-scale processing of metal or glass materials. Since the destructive effect is based on a multiphoton process and can be localized in the focusing area, the micro-processing can be performed with high three-dimensional resolution. We developed a laser processing system for laser surgery inside of living cells with the high spatial resolution, and monitored the response of the cells during laser surgery. In the experiment, we discovered that laser irradiation can induce physiological activities of cells. Focused laser light from a mode-locked Ti: Sapphire laser (780 nm, 80 fs, 82 MHz) irradiated HeLa cells loaded with fluorescence calcium indicator (fluo-4/AM). Soon after the irradiation, increase of the calcium concentration was seen around the focusing spot, then propagating to the entire cell. This result indicates that the increase of the calcium concentration was induced due to nonlinear optical process such as multiphoton absorption.
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