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De Lora JA, Aubermann F, Frey C, Jahnke T, Wang Y, Weber S, Platzman I, Spatz JP. Evaluation of Acoustophoretic and Dielectrophoretic Forces for Droplet Injection in Droplet-Based Microfluidic Devices. ACS OMEGA 2024; 9:16097-16105. [PMID: 38617618 PMCID: PMC11007716 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c09881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
Acoustophoretic forces have been successfully implemented into droplet-based microfluidic devices to manipulate droplets. These acoustophoretic forces in droplet microfluidic devices are typically generated as in acoustofluidic devices through transducer actuation of a piezoelectric substrate such as lithium niobate (LiNbO3), which is inherently accompanied by the emergence of electrical fields. Understanding acoustophoretic versus dielectrophoretic forces produced by electrodes and transducers within active microfluidic devices is important for the optimization of device performance during design iterations. In this case study, we design microfluidic devices with a droplet injection module and report an experimental strategy to deduce the respective contribution of the acoustophoretic versus dielectrophoretic forces for the observed droplet injection. Our PDMS-based devices comprise a standard oil-in-water droplet-generating module connected to a T-junction injection module featuring actuating electrodes. We use two different electrode geometries produced within the same PDMS slab as the droplet production/injection channels by filling low-melting-point metal alloy into channels that template the electrode geometries. When these electrodes are constructed on LiNbO3 as the substrate, they have a dual function as a piezoelectric transducer, which we call embedded liquid metal interdigitated transducers (elmIDTs). To decipher the contribution of acoustophoretic versus dielectrophoretic forces, we build the same devices on either piezoelectric LiNbO3 or nonpiezo active glass substrates with different combinations of physical device characteristics (i.e., elmIDT geometry and alignment) and operate in a range of phase spaces (i.e., frequency, voltage, and transducer polarity). We characterize devices using techniques such as laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) and infrared imaging, along with evaluating droplet injection for our series of device designs, constructions, and operating parameters. Although we find that LiNbO3 device designs generate acoustic fields, we demonstrate that droplet injection occurs only due to dielectrophoretic forces. We deduce that droplet injection is caused by the coupled dielectrophoretic forces arising from the operation of elmIDTs rather than by acoustophoretic forces for this specific device design. We arrive at this conclusion because equivalent droplet injection occurs without the presence of an acoustic field using the same electrode designs on nonpiezo active glass substrate devices. This work establishes a methodology to pinpoint the major contributing force of droplet manipulation in droplet-based acoustomicrofluidics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacqueline A. De Lora
- Department
of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute
for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute
for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Florian Aubermann
- Department
of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute
for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute
for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Max
Planck School Matter to Life, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christoph Frey
- Department
of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute
for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute
for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Timotheus Jahnke
- Department
of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute
for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute
for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Yuanzhen Wang
- Department
of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute
for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute
for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sebastian Weber
- Department
of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute
for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute
for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ilia Platzman
- Department
of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute
for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute
for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Joachim P. Spatz
- Department
of Cellular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute
for Medical Research, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute
for Molecular Systems Engineering (IMSE), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 225, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Max
Planck School Matter to Life, Jahnstraße 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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Pellegrino L, Rusconi R. Sonic snares: Trapping microorganisms for deeper insights into swimming behavior and ciliary dynamics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2308908120. [PMID: 37418559 PMCID: PMC10629515 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2308908120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/09/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Luca Pellegrino
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele20072, Italy
| | - Roberto Rusconi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele20072, Italy
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano20089, Italy
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Fakhfouri A, Colditz M, Devendran C, Ivanova K, Jacob S, Neild A, Winkler A. Fully Microfabricated Surface Acoustic Wave Tweezer for Collection of Submicron Particles and Human Blood Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:24023-24033. [PMID: 37188328 PMCID: PMC10215297 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c00537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
| | - Melanie Colditz
- Leibniz-IFW
Dresden, Helmholtzstr.
20, 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Citsabehsan Devendran
- Department
of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | | | - Stefan Jacob
- Physikalisch-Technische
Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee
100, 38116, Brunswick, Germany
| | - Adrian Neild
- Department
of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Andreas Winkler
- Leibniz-IFW
Dresden, Helmholtzstr.
20, 01069 Dresden, Germany
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Ang B, Sookram A, Devendran C, He V, Tuck K, Cadarso V, Neild A. Glass-embedded PDMS microfluidic device for enhanced concentration of nanoparticles using an ultrasonic nanosieve. LAB ON A CHIP 2023; 23:525-533. [PMID: 36633124 DOI: 10.1039/d2lc00802e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Surface acoustic wave (SAW) driven devices typically employ polymeric microfluidic channels of low acoustic impedance mismatch to the fluid in contact, to allow precise control of the wave field. Several of these applications, however, can benefit from the implementation of an acoustically reflective surface at the microfluidic channel's ceiling to increase energy retention within the fluid and hence, performance of the device. In this work, we embed a glass insert at the ceiling of the PDMS microfluidic channel used in a SAW activated nanosieve, which utilises a microparticle resonance for enrichment of nanoparticles. Due to the system's independence of performance on channel geometry and wave field pattern, the glass-inserted device allowed for a 30-fold increase in flow rate, from 0.05 μl min-1 to 1.5 μL min-1, whilst maintaining high capture efficiencies of >90%, when compared to its previously reported design. This effectively enables the system to process larger volume samples, which typically is a main limitation of these type of devices. This work demonstrates a simple way to increase the performance and throughput of SAW-based devices, especially within systems that can benefit from the energy retention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan Ang
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton 3800, VIC, Australia.
- Centre to Impact Antimicrobial Resistance, Monash University, Clayton 3800, VIC, Australia
| | - Ankush Sookram
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton 3800, VIC, Australia.
| | - Citsabehsan Devendran
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton 3800, VIC, Australia.
| | - Vincent He
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton 3800, VIC, Australia.
| | - Kellie Tuck
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton 3800, VIC, Australia
| | - Victor Cadarso
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton 3800, VIC, Australia.
- Centre to Impact Antimicrobial Resistance, Monash University, Clayton 3800, VIC, Australia
| | - Adrian Neild
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton 3800, VIC, Australia.
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Weser R, Deng Z, Kondalkar VV, Darinskii AN, Cierpka C, Schmidt H, König J. Three-dimensional heating and patterning dynamics of particles in microscale acoustic tweezers. LAB ON A CHIP 2022; 22:2886-2901. [PMID: 35851398 DOI: 10.1039/d2lc00200k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Acoustic tweezers facilitate a noninvasive, contactless, and label-free method for the precise manipulation of micro objects, including biological cells. Although cells are exposed to mechanical and thermal stress, acoustic tweezers are usually considered as biocompatible. Here, we present a holistic experimental approach to reveal the correlation between acoustic fields, acoustophoretic motion and heating effects of particles induced by an acoustic tweezer setup. The system is based on surface acoustic waves and was characterized by applying laser Doppler vibrometry, astigmatism particle tracking velocimetry and luminescence lifetime imaging. In situ measurements with high spatial and temporal resolution reveal a three-dimensional particle patterning coinciding with the experimentally assisted numerical result of the acoustic radiation force distribution. In addition, a considerable and rapid heating up to 55 °C depending on specific parameters was observed. Although these temperatures may be harmful to living cells, counter-measures can be found as the time scales of patterning and heating are shown to be different.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Weser
- Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, SAWLab Saxony, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Zhichao Deng
- Institute of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Ilmenau, Germany.
| | - Vijay V Kondalkar
- Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, SAWLab Saxony, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Alexandre N Darinskii
- Institute of Crystallography FSRC "Crystallography and Photonics", Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Christian Cierpka
- Institute of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Ilmenau, Germany.
| | - Hagen Schmidt
- Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, SAWLab Saxony, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Jörg König
- Institute of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Ilmenau, Germany.
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