Generating multifunctional acoustic tweezers in Petri dishes for contactless, precise manipulation of bioparticles

Sci Adv. 2020 Sep 9;6(37):eabb0494. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abb0494. Print 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Acoustic tweezers are a promising technology for the biocompatible, precise manipulation of delicate bioparticles ranging from nanometer-sized exosomes to millimeter-sized zebrafish larva. However, their widespread usage is hindered by their low compatibility with the workflows in biological laboratories. Here, we present multifunctional acoustic tweezers that can manipulate bioparticles in a disposable Petri dish. Various functionalities including cell patterning, tissue engineering, concentrating particles, translating cells, stimulating cells, and cell lysis are demonstrated. Moreover, leaky surface acoustic wave-based holography is achieved by encoding required phases in electrode profiles of interdigitated transducers. This overcomes the frequency and resolution limits of previous holographic techniques to control three-dimensional acoustic beams in microscale. This study presents a favorable technique for noncontact and label-free manipulation of bioparticles in commonly used Petri dishes. It can be readily adopted by the biological and medical communities for cell studies, tissue generation, and regenerative medicine.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural