Acoustofluidics for Manipulation of Biological Samples

Focus: Developing acoustofluidic platforms for the precise, contactless manipulation of biological systems—from single cells and bacteria to extracellular vesicles and synthetic nanoparticles.

Description:
We harness acoustic fields within microfluidic environments to control biological materials in a label-free and biocompatible manner. Our devices exploit embedded microbubbles, thin acoustic walls, and droplet-based microfluidics to achieve trapping, rotation, separation, and coating of cells, bacteria, and nanoparticles. By correlating geometry, frequency, and biological response, we establish design principles for non-invasive and reproducible manipulation. These systems enable new capabilities for e.g. directed evolution, bacteria medium exchange, and extracellular vesicle loading.

Selected publications:
M. S. Gerlt, D. Haidas, A. Ratschat, P. Suter, P. S. Dittrich and J. Dual, “Manipulation of single cells inside nanoliter water droplets using acoustic forces”, Biomicrofluidics (2020) 14, 064112.

M. S. Gerlt*, P. Ruppen*, M. Leuthner, S. Panke, J. Dual (these authors contributed equally), “Acoustofluidic Medium Exchange for Preparation of Electrocompetent Bacteria Using Channel Wall Trapping”, Lab on a Chip 21, 4487–4497 (2021).

N. F. Läubli*, M. S. Gerlt*, A. Wüthrich, R. T. M. Lewis, N. Shamsudhin, U. Kutay, D. Ahmed, J. Dual, B. J. Nelson (authors contributed equally), “Embedded Microbubbles for Acoustic Manipulation of Single Cells and Microfluidic Applications”, Analytical Chemistry 93, 9760–9770 (2021).