Microfluidics is evolving as a new platform for the development of miniaturized techniques that are advantageous for wide ranges of clinical and bio-analytical applications. A typical microfluidic device is comprised of single to multiple fluid channels with the width of few hundred micrometers and many laboratory functions are performed in these channels. The ability to integrate sound waves into these channels has further enabled the development new array of bio-analytical devices with unique capabilities that are not possible in macroscale. The integration of sound waves in microfluidics, known as acoustofluidics, is a technique that uses acoustic forces to focus particles and cells into pre-determined regions of a microfluidic channel and forms a new non-contact and gentle method of particle manipulation which can be utilized to purify, separate, concentrate and analyze cells. Acoustic force on a particle or a cell is governed by properties like size, density, and compressibility. Certain disease conditions such as breast cancer, malaria, and sickle cell anemia alter the biomechanical properties of cells thereby changing the compressibility of the cells. The use of such biomechanical changes as diagnostic tools is advantageous for many clinical analysis. In this work, we present our initial study on separating cancerous cells from their healthy counterparts using different acoustic parameter due to the differences in compressibility. This approach of separation is advantageous over the other methods since it is contactless, label-free, high-throughput and does not alter the biophysical properties and viability of the cells. The overall goal of this work is to develop a system that can be used to separate the biological sample based on cell compressibility. Cell focusing is visualized using fluorescence microscopy and a simple image analysis technique and quantification of focusing are obtained using flow cytometry.

Acoustophoretic separation of cell samples exploiting the differences in biomechanical properties

2019 Spring National Meeting

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