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Fabrication, Operation and Flow Visualization in Surface-acoustic-wave-driven Acoustic-counterflow Microfluidics
Published on: August 27, 2013
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Recent advances in microfluidic actuation and micro-object manipulation via surface acoustic waves
Ghulam Destgeer1, Hyung Jin Sung
1Flow Control Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 305-338, Korea. hjsung@kaist.ac.kr.
Lab on a Chip
|May 29, 2015
Summary
Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) enable precise microfluidic actuation and manipulation for lab-on-a-chip devices. This review analyzes recent advancements in acoustofluidic techniques using SAWs for microscale fluid and object handling.
Area of Science:
- Microfluidics
- Acoustofluidics
- Surface Acoustic Waves (SAWs)
Background:
- Microscale systems require efficient fluid actuation and micro-object manipulation.
- Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) offer powerful, non-invasive, and cost-effective solutions.
- SAW devices are compatible with microfabrication and label-free manipulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- Critically analyze recent reports on SAW applications in microfluidics.
- Review new technological developments in acoustofluidics.
- Discuss future prospects of SAW-based technologies.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of recent scientific literature on acoustofluidics.
- Categorization of techniques based on travelling SAWs (TSAWs) and standing SAWs (SSAWs).
- Review of SAW-driven fluid actuation (acoustic streaming flow, acoustic radiation force) and micro-object manipulation.
Main Results:
- TSAWs actuate fluids and manipulate micro-objects via acoustic streaming flow (ASF) and acoustic radiation force (ARF).
- SSAWs are primarily used for micro-object manipulation, with limited use in actuation.
- Recent advancements in SAW-based microfluidic technologies are highlighted.
Conclusions:
- SAW-based acoustofluidics are crucial for microscale total analysis and lab-on-a-chip systems.
- The technology offers energy efficiency, non-invasiveness, and label-free manipulation.
- Future research directions and potential applications are outlined.
