Development and characterisation of acoustofluidic devices using detachable electrodes made from PCB

Area of Science:

• Acoustofluidics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Acoustofluidics leverages acoustic waves for precise manipulation of microscale entities.
• Existing fabrication methods for surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices can be complex and costly.
• There is a need for simpler, more accessible fabrication techniques for SAW-based acoustofluidic devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize a novel, simple fabrication technology for SAW-based acoustofluidic devices using printed circuit boards (PCBs).
• To evaluate the performance of the PCB-based SAW (PCB-SAW) device in microparticle manipulation and cell patterning.
• To assess the biocompatibility and efficiency of the PCB-SAW device for acoustophoretic applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a PCB-SAW device by clamping PCB electrodes to a piezoelectric substrate.
• Systematic characterization and benchmarking against conventionally fabricated SAW devices.
• Demonstration of microparticle manipulation (streaming, patterning) and lung cancer cell patterning using the PCB-SAW device.

Main Results:

• Successful fabrication and characterization of the PCB-SAW device.
• Demonstrated microparticle manipulation in droplets and microchannels.
• Controllable patterning of lung cancer cells into multiple traces within a microchannel.
• Achieved high cell viability (∼97%) after acoustic manipulation.

Conclusions:

• The PCB-SAW device presents a novel, simple, and effective technology for acoustofluidic applications.
• This method is suitable for precise microparticle and cell manipulation in biological and medical fields.
• The high cell viability confirms the device's potential for sensitive acoustophoretic applications.