Dynamic acoustic field activated cell separation (DAFACS)

Advances in diagnostics, cell and stem cell technologies drive the development of application-specific tools for cell and particle separation. Acoustic micro-particle separation offers a promising avenue for highthroughput, label-free, high recovery, cell and particle separation and isolation in regenerative medicine. Here, we demonstrate a novel approach utilizing a dynamic acoustic field that is capable of separating an arbitrary size range of cells. We first demonstrate the method for the separation of particles with different diameters between 6 and 45 μm and secondly particles of different densities in a heterogeneous medium. The dynamic acoustic field is then used to separate dorsal root ganglion cells. The shearless, label-free and low damage characteristics make this method of manipulation particularly suited for biological applications. Advantages of using a dynamic acoustic field for the separation of cells include its inherent safety and biocompatibility, the possibility to operate over large distances (centimetres), high purity (ratio of particle population, up to 100%), and high efficiency (ratio of separated particles over total number of particles to separate, up to 100%)

Acoustic Tweezing for Patterning and Discriminating Particles

We present a novel sensor device that acoustically patterns and discriminates micron-scale particles. Such techniques, that allow the micro-manipulation and isolate cells, particles or droplets by non-invasive means, are desired to facilitate biophysical or biological applications such as microarrays and tissue engineering. Here, our approach utilizing a static acoustic field to pattern particles and a dynamic acoustic field that is capable of separating an arbitrary size range of particles. We first demonstrate the method for the separation of particles with different diameters between 6 and 45 μm. The shearless, label free and low damage characteristics make this method of manipulation particularly suited for biological applications. Advantages of using a dynamic acoustic field for the separation of particles include its tunability and adapt to the entities that need to be separated, inherent safety and biocompatibility, the possibility to operate over large distances (centimetres), high purity (ratio of particle population, up to 100%), and high efficiency (ratio of separated particles over total number of particles to separate, up to 100%)

Dynamic Acoustic Field for Tuneable and Scalable Particle Sorting

Separation of cells is a critical process for studying cell properties, disease diagnostics, and therapeutics. Cell sorting by acoustic waves offers a means to separate cells on the basis of their size and physical properties in a label-free, contactless, and biocompatible manner. In this work, we introduce a unique technique, which use a dynamic acoustic field (DAF), based on the modulation of the phase of the standing wave. Using our dynamic acoustic field, we successfully separated 10 and 45 μm diameter polystyrene particles with a separation efficiency of 100%, and separated 6 and 10 μm polystyrene particles with an efficiency of ~97%. We illustrate that DAF is capable of effectively separating dorsal root ganglion cells from heterogeneous medium. Finally, we demonstrate the scalability of the DAF method by sorting polystyrene particles of 5 mm and 2 mm diameter in air

Contactless Acoustic Manipulation and Sorting of Particles by Dynamic Acoustic Fields

This paper presents a contactless, acoustic technique to manipulate and sort particles of varying size in both liquid and air media. An acoustic standing wave is generated by the superposition of counterpropagating waves emitted by two opposing emitters. The acoustic radiation force traps the smallest particles at the pressure nodes of the acoustic standing wave. The position of the particles can be manipulated by dynamically changing the phase difference between the two emitters. By applying a dynamic acoustic field (DAF), it is demonstrated that particles can be manipulated spatially and sorted according to size. The discrimination (sorting dynamic range) capability is initially demonstrated in liquid media by separating three different sets of polystyrene particles, ranging in size from 5 to 45μm in diameter. The separation between particles was performed up to a ratio of 5/6 in diameter (20% diameter difference). Finally, the scalability of the DAF method is demonstrated by sorting expanded polystyrene particles of 2 and 5 mm diameter in air