MICROCHIP-BASED ACOUSTIC TRAPPING OR CAPTURE OF CELLS FOR FORENSIC ANALYSIS AND RELATED METHOD THEREOF

• US 20110033922A1
• Filed: 10/04/2006
• Published: 02/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: University of Virginia Patent Foundation (University of Virginia)
• Original Assignee: University of Virginia Patent Foundation (University of Virginia)
• Inventors: Evander, Mikael, Nilsson, Johan, Hall, Katie, Laurell, Thomas, Landers, James P.
• Application Number:
  US12/089,320
• Publication Number:
  US 20110033922A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 435/325
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00932 Sonic or ultrasonic vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2200/0668 Trapping microscopic beads
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2300/0816 Cards, e.g. flat sample carriers usually with flow in two horizontal directions
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2300/0864 comprising only one inlet and multiple receiving wells, e.g. for separation, splitting
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 2400/0439 ultrasonic vibrations, vibrating piezo elements
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/502761 specially adapted for handling suspended solids or molecules independently from the bulk fluid flow, e.g. for trapping or sorting beads, for physically stretching molecules investigating characteristics of particles G01N15/00

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for separating by size a mixture of different size particles using ultrasound. The apparatus contains a microchannel having an acoustic transducer thereon. As a mixture of cells having different sizes flows down the microchannel, the ultrasonic radiation traps cells of desired sizes focused at nodes of a standing pressure wave in the microchannel.

Claims

1. An apparatus for cell separation comprising a microchannel having a cell trapping site, wherein said cell trapping site comprises an acoustic transducer on an opposite side of the microchannel and a reflector surface on another side of the microchannel.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the acoustic transducer is screen printed PZT-multilayer device.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the distance between the acoustic transducer and the reflector surface is about 61 μ

m.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a second cell trapping spatially separated from the cell trapping site, wherein said second cell trapping site comprises a second acoustic transducer on an opposite side of the microchannel and a reflector surface on another side of the microchannel.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said second cell trapping site is down stream of the cell trapping site.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second acoustic transducer operates at a different frequency than the first ultrasonic transducer.

7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the channel at the second acoustic transducer has a different dimension than the channel at the first acoustic transducer.

8. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the channel at the second acoustic transducer has a height than the channel at the first acoustic transducer.

9. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the channel at distances between the transducer and the reflector surface are different at the second acoustic transducer and the first acoustic transducer.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transducer is separated from the channel by a layer of material.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the material is glass.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the thickness of the material is an odd number of ¼

wavelength of the acoustic radiation generated by the transducer.

13. A method for separating cells comprising the steps of

providing the apparatus of claim 1;

flowing a cell mixture into the microchannel;

activating the ultrasonic transducer at a predetermined frequency.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the ultrasonic transducer is screen printed PZT-multilayer device.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the distance between the ultrasonic transducer and the reflector surface is about 61 μ

m.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising a second cell trapping spatially separated from the cell trapping site, wherein said second cell trapping site comprises a second ultrasonic transducer on an opposite side of the microchannel and a reflector surface on another side of the microchannel.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said second cell trapping site is down stream of the cell trapping site.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the cells being trapped at the cell trapping site are sperm cells.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the second ultrasonic transducer operates at a different frequency than the ultrasonic transducer.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the channel at the second ultrasonic transducer has a different dimension than the channel at the first ultrasonic transducer.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the channel at the second ultrasonic transducer has a height than the channel at the first ultrasonic transducer.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the channel at distances between the transducer and the reflector surface are different at the second ultrasonic transducer and the first ultrasonic transducer.

23. The method of claim 13, wherein the transducer is separated from the channel by a layer of material.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the material is glass.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the thickness of the material is an odd number of ¼

wavelength of the acoustic radiation generated by the transducer.