Selective Manipulation with Spiraling Transducer Acoustical Tweezers

Microfluidics is fast becoming a critical technology for medicine and biology for its many important applications, e.g. precision medicine, single-cell sequencing and the manipulation of microparticles/droplets. Acoustic trapping technologies have received significant attention in microfluidics. Optical and magnetic tweezers have stringent limitations to manipulate cells. Acoustic tweezers based on spiraling interdigitated transducers (IDTs) are label-free, contactless and biocompatible, with excellent selectivity and manipulation strength. In our paper, we have developed flat, compact, focalized acoustical tweezers to manipulate cells/particles in 3D manipulation. These tweezers rely on focalized acoustical vortexes on a flat piezoelectric substrate. These tweezers’ unique 2D selective manipulation through manipulating microparticles/cells/droplets, their simplicity, high biocompatibility and selective manipulation open tremendous perspectives in microbiology, microrobotics, and microscopy.