Acoustic waves in microfluidics

US11229911B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• President and Fellows of Harvard College · US
• University of Augsburg · DE

Inventors

• David A. Weitz · Bolton, US
• Thomas Franke · Bremen, DE
• Achim Wixforth · Hersbruck, DE
• Lothar Schmid · Augsburg, DE
• Jeremy Agresti · El Cerrito, US
• Adam R. Abate · Cambridge, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 2, 2019
• Grant date: Jan 25, 2022
• Expiry date: Feb 7, 2039

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T137/0391
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Various aspects of the present invention relate to the control and manipulation of fluidic species, for example, in microfluidic systems. In one set of embodiments, droplets may be sorted using surface acoustic waves. The droplets may contain cells or other species. In some cases, the surface acoustic waves may be created using a surface acoustic wave generator such as an interdigitated transducer, and/or a material such as a piezoelectric substrate. The piezoelectric substrate may be isolated from the microfluidic substrate except at or proximate the location where the droplets are sorted, e.g., into first or second microfluidic channels. At such locations, the microfluidic substrate may be coupled to the piezoelectric substrate (or other material) by one or more coupling regions. In some cases, relatively high sorting rates may be achieved, e.g., at rates of at least about 1,000 Hz, at least about 10,000 Hz, or at least about 100,000 Hz, and in some embodiments, with high cell viability after sorting.