High-throughput cell manipulation using ultrasound fields

Abstract

This paper presents a novel method for high-throughput cell manipulation that is capable of trapping and transporting biological cells in liquid using acoustic forces in an ultrasound field. We applied this technique for concentrating several cell types such as HeLa cells and human mesencymal stem cells. More than 90% of the cells were successfully concentrated into desired patterns. We also investigated cell viability in ultrasound fields and found little adverse effect. This work demonstrates that ultrasonic cell manipulation is suitable for being integrated into lab-on-a-chip systems for trapping and transporting large numbers of cells rapidly and is promising in cell fractioning.