Technique utilises acoustic waves to sort cells on a chip

The device uses two beams of acoustic waves to act as acoustic tweezers and sort a continuous flow of cells on a dime-sized chip, said Tony Jun Huang, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State. By changing the frequency of the acoustic waves, researchers can alter the paths of the cells.

In a statement, Huang said that since the device can sort cells into five or more channels, it will allow more cell types to be analysed simultaneously, which paves the way for smaller, more efficient and less expensive analytic devices.

‘Eventually, you could do analysis on a device about the size of a mobile phone,’ said Huang. ‘It’s very doable and we’re making in-roads to that right now.’

Biological, genetic and medical labs could use the device for various types of analysis, including blood and genetic testing, he added.

Most current cell-sorting devices allow the cells to be sorted into only two channels in one step, according to Huang. He said that another drawback of current cell-sorting devices is that cells must be encapsulated into droplets, which complicates further analysis.