SAW-based acoustofluidic blood platelet separation at 2.7 × 104 cells per s throughput in a comprehensively analysed and numerical simulated, wafer-scale manufactured device.
Precise manipulation
of (sub)micron particles is key
for the preparation,
enrichment, and quality control in many biomedical applications. Surface
acoustic waves (SAW) hold tremendous promise for manipulation of (bio)particles
at the micron to nanoscale ranges. In commonly used SAW tweezers,
particle manipulation relies on the direct acoustic radiation effect
whose superior performance fades rapidly when progressing from micron
to nanoscale particles due to the increasing dominance of a second
order mechanism, termed acoustic streaming. Through reproducible and
high-precision realization of stiff microchannels to reliably actuate
the microchannel cross-section, here we introduce an approach that
allows the otherwise competing acoustic streaming to complement the
acoustic radiation effect. The synergetic effect of both mechanisms
markedly enhances the manipulation of nanoparticles, down to 200 nm
particles, even at relatively large wavelength (300 μm). Besides
spherical particles ranging from 0.1 to 3 μm, we show collections
of cells mixed with different sizes and shapes inherently existing
in blood including erythrocytes, leukocytes, and thrombocytes.
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