The acoustic force density acting on inhomogeneous fluids in acoustic fields

We present a theory for the acoustic force density acting on inhomogeneous fluids in acoustic fields on time scales that are slow compared to the acoustic oscillation period. The acoustic force density depends on gradients in the density and compressibility of the fluid. For microfluidic systems, the theory predicts a relocation of the inhomogeneities into stable field-dependent configurations, which are qualitatively different from the horizontally layered configurations due to gravity. Experimental validation is obtained by confocal imaging of aqueous solutions in a glass-silicon microchip.Comment: RevTex, 5 pages, 3 eps figure

Characterization of Acoustic Streaming in Gradients of Density and Compressibility

Suppression of boundary-driven Rayleigh streaming has recently been demonstrated for fluids of spatial inhomogeneity in density and compressibility owing to the competition between the boundary-layer-induced streaming stress and the inhomogeneity-induced acoustic body force. Here we characterize acoustic streaming by general defocusing particle tracking inside a half-wavelength acoustic resonator filled with two miscible aqueous solutions of different density and speed of sound controlled by the mass fraction of solute molecules. We follow the temporal evolution of the system as the solute molecules become homogenized by diffusion and advection. Acoustic streaming rolls is suppressed in the bulk of the microchannel for 70-200 seconds dependent on the choice of inhomogeneous solutions. From confocal measurements of the concentration field of fluorescently labelled Ficoll solute molecules, we conclude that the temporal evolution of the acoustic streaming depends on the diffusivity and the initial distribution of these molecules. Suppression and deformation of the streaming rolls are observed for inhomogeneities in the solute mass fraction down to 0.1 %.Comment: RevTex, pdfLaTex, 10 pages, 10 pdf figure

Acoustic streaming and its suppression in inhomogeneous fluids

We present a theoretical and experimental study of boundary-driven acoustic streaming in an inhomogeneous fluid with variations in density and compressibility. In a homogeneous fluid this streaming results from dissipation in the boundary layers (Rayleigh streaming). We show that in an inhomogeneous fluid, an additional non-dissipative force density acts on the fluid to stabilize particular inhomogeneity configurations, which markedly alters and even suppresses the streaming flows. Our theoretical and numerical analysis of the phenomenon is supported by ultrasound experiments performed with inhomogeneous aqueous iodixanol solutions in a glass-silicon microchip.Comment: 6 pages, 3 pdf figures, RevTex 4-

Diving with microparticles in acoustic fields

Sound can move particles. A good example of this phenomenon is the Chladni plate, in which an acoustic wave is induced in a metallic plate and particles migrate to the nodes of the acoustic wave. For several years, acoustophoresis has been used to manipulate microparticles in microscopic scales. In this fluid dynamics video, submitted to the 30th Annual Gallery of Fluid Motion, we show the basic mechanism of the technique and a simple way of visualize it. Since acoustophoretic phenomena is essentially a three-dimensional effect, we employ a simple technique to visualize the particles in 3D. The technique is called Astigmatism Particle Tracking Velocimetry and it consists in the use of cylindrical lenses to induce a deformation in the particle shape, which will be then correlated with its distance from the observer. With this method we are able to dive with the particles and observe in detail particle motion that would otherwise be missed. The technique not only permits visualization but also precise quantitative measurements that can be compared with theory and simulations.Comment: Fluid dynamics video for the 30th Annual Gallery of Fluid Motion, Entry #84160 65th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society, Division of Fluid Dynamics San Diego, CA, Nov 201

Iso-acoustic focusing of cells for size-insensitive acousto-mechanical phenotyping

Mechanical phenotyping of single cells is an emerging tool for cell classification, enabling assessment of effective parameters relating to cells’ interior molecular content and structure. Here, we present iso-acoustic focusing, an equilibrium method to analyze the effective acoustic impedance of single cells in continuous flow. While flowing through a microchannel, cells migrate sideways, influenced by an acoustic field, into streams of increasing acoustic impedance, until reaching their cell-type specific point of zero acoustic contrast. We establish an experimental procedure and provide theoretical justifications and models for iso-acoustic focusing. We describe a method for providing a suitable acoustic contrast gradient in a cell-friendly medium, and use acoustic forces to maintain that gradient in the presence of destabilizing forces. Applying this method we demonstrate iso-acoustic focusing of cell lines and leukocytes, showing that acoustic properties provide phenotypic information independent of size.Swedish Research Council (Grant 2012-6708)Royal Physiographic SocietyHertz Foundatio

Transient buildup and decay of thermoacoustic streaming

We recently introduced the concept of thermoacoustic streaming in microchannels wherein a thermal field is generated inside an acoustic cavity. The result is a fast and controllable streaming for which the thermal energy is provided either by an LED light source [1], or a laser [2]. While in previous works we have measured this effect at steady state, we now present measurements of the build-up and decay. We believe that the presented approach can offer the basis for particle sorting or manipulation applications

Two-step acoustofluidic cancer cell enrichment

We have previously proposed and evaluated acoustophoresis for the enrichment of circulating tumor cells (CTC) and clusters thereof from the blood of patients with prostate cancer [1]. In that protocol, the cells were fixed and preserved in paraformaldehyde before processing and were thus non-viable. To enable future enrichment of also viable CTCs from patients, we have in this study investigated the ability to discriminate cancer cell line cells from sub-groups of viable white blood cells (WBC). We found that acoustophoresis alone has poorer performance for viable cells than for fixed cells. Therefore, we added a second step of acoustic gradient separation wherein cells migrate into a medium of increasing acoustic impedance. The resulting separation results in >80% of cancer cells reaching the target outlet while 99.8% of all WBCs are removed

Focusing of sub-micrometer particles and bacteria enabled by two-dimensional acoustophoresis.

Handling of sub-micrometer bioparticles such as bacteria are becoming increasingly important in the biomedical field and in environmental and food analysis. As a result, there is an increased need for less labor-intensive and time-consuming handling methods. Here, an acoustophoresis-based microfluidic chip that uses ultrasound to focus sub-micrometer particles and bacteria, is presented. The ability to focus sub-micrometer bioparticles in a standing one-dimensional acoustic wave is generally limited by the acoustic-streaming-induced drag force, which becomes increasingly significant the smaller the particles are. By using two-dimensional acoustic focusing, i.e. focusing of the sub-micrometer particles both horizontally and vertically in the cross section of a microchannel, the acoustic streaming velocity field can be altered to allow focusing. Here, the focusability of E. coli and polystyrene particles as small as 0.5 μm in diameter in microchannels of square or rectangular cross sections, is demonstrated. Numerical analysis was used to determine generic transverse particle trajectories in the channels, which revealed spiral-shaped trajectories of the sub-micrometer particles towards the center of the microchannel; this was also confirmed by experimental observations. The ability to focus and enrich bacteria and other sub-micrometer bioparticles using acoustophoresis opens the research field to new microbiological applications

Ultrasound-induced acoustophoretic motion of microparticles in three dimensions

We derive analytical expressions for the three-dimensional (3D) acoustophoretic motion of spherical microparticles in rectangular microchannels. The motion is generated by the acoustic radiation force and the acoustic streaming-induced drag force. In contrast to the classical theory of Rayleigh streaming in shallow, infinite, parallel-plate channels, our theory does include the effect of the microchannel side walls. The resulting predictions agree well with numerics and experimental measurements of the acoustophoretic motion of polystyrene spheres with nominal diameters of 0.537 um and 5.33 um. The 3D particle motion was recorded using astigmatism particle tracking velocimetry under controlled thermal and acoustic conditions in a long, straight, rectangular microchannel actuated in one of its transverse standing ultrasound-wave resonance modes with one or two half-wavelengths. The acoustic energy density is calibrated in situ based on measurements of the radiation dominated motion of large 5-um-diam particles, allowing for quantitative comparison between theoretical predictions and measurements of the streaming induced motion of small 0.5-um-diam particles.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Revtex 4.

Acoustic radiation- and streaming-induced microparticle velocities determined by micro-PIV in an ultrasound symmetry plane

We present micro-PIV measurements of suspended microparticles of diameters from 0.6 um to 10 um undergoing acoustophoresis in an ultrasound symmetry plane in a microchannel. The motion of the smallest particles are dominated by the Stokes drag from the induced acoustic streaming flow, while the motion of the largest particles are dominated by the acoustic radiation force. For all particle sizes we predict theoretically how much of the particle velocity is due to radiation and streaming, respectively. These predictions include corrections for particle-wall interactions and ultrasonic thermoviscous effects, and they match our measurements within the experimental uncertainty. Finally, we predict theoretically and confirm experimentally that the ratio between the acoustic radiation- and streaming-induced particle velocities is proportional to the square of the particle size, the actuation frequency and the acoustic contrast factor, while it is inversely proportional to the kinematic viscosity.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, RevTex 4-