Ultrasonics

Our research

Senior scientist(s): Martin Wiklund

Fig. 1. The device with hundred ultrasonic cages integrated into a microplate used for long-term live-cell microscopy.

Fig. 2. NK cells (orange) attacking an ultrasound-fabricated solid tumor (green) inside one of the hundred wells in Fig. 1.

Ultrasound applied to microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip systems is a rapidly growing research field termed “Acoustofluidics” [1]. We use ultrasound for manipulation of particles and biological cells (acoustophoresis, acoustic trapping) and fluids (acoustic streaming, cavitation). The technology is primarily based on controlling acoustic radiation forces in resonant channels and chambers inside microchips fabricated in silicon and glass.

We invented the “ultrasonic cage” for accurate 3D manipulation of individual cells [2], and the frequency-modulation method for resonance stabilization and particle transport [3]. We also pioneered the design of fully biocompatible ultrasonic manipulation systems [4]. Recent applications of our work include ultrasonic sample preparation in point-of-care clinical diagnostics, ultrasonic fabrication of 3D micro-tissue structures in parallel, and studies of immune cell – cancer cell interactions [5]. Our long-term goal is to design and integrate several different ultrasound manipulation functions into lab-on-a-chip systems for various application-specific needs in medical research.

References