A thermally shielded acoustofluidic device for robust particle focusing

Area of Science:

• Acoustofluidics
• Microfluidics
• Biophysics

Background:

• Temperature fluctuations in acoustofluidic devices cause resonance shifts, degrading acoustophoretic performance.
• Precise temperature regulation is critical for reliable handling of biological particles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel microfluidic chip design for precise temperature control in acoustofluidics.
• To investigate the impact of temperature on acoustophoretic focusing performance.

Main Methods:

• A novel design thermally decouples the microfluidic chip from the piezoelectric actuator using a copper sheet.
• An automated experimental setup enabled multiparameter control and characterization.

Main Results:

• Constant power excitation minimizes temperature fluctuations across a wide frequency range.
• Performance degradation and heat-induced resonance shifts were observed near physiological temperatures.

Conclusions:

• The proposed design enables precise temperature control essential for robust acoustofluidic device performance.
• This work facilitates the development of high-throughput, reproducible acoustofluidic particle manipulation systems.