Acoustic tweezers hold great promise for potential applications in cell sorting due to their noncontact, noninvasive, and simple characteristics. Acoustic tweezers, however, have difficulty in separating the cells of the same size distribution, which hampers their applications. In this paper, we demonstrate that assisted by the targeted microbubble, two kinds of cells with an overlap in size distribution can be efficiently separated by surface acoustic waves. By specifically adhering the targeted microbubbles to MDA-MB-231 cells, the acoustic sensitivity of cells can be improved significantly, leading to the isolation of MDA-MB-231 from MCF-7 cells with an efficiency of 91.2 ± 3.4%. This method extends the diversity of acoustic separation and is capable of separation of particles with the same density and diameter, proving a strategy for specific cell sorting.
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18 February 2020
Research Article|
February 18 2020
Microbubble enhanced acoustic tweezers for size-independent cell sorting
Special Collection:
Acoustic Tweezers
Long Meng
;
Long Meng
1
Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Guangdong 518055, China
2
Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence
, Guangzhou 510515, People's Republic of China
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Xiaoyu Cui;
Xiaoyu Cui
3
College of Medicine and Biological information engineering, Northeastern University
, Liaoning 110819, China
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Chenyu Dong;
Chenyu Dong
1
Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Guangdong 518055, China
3
College of Medicine and Biological information engineering, Northeastern University
, Liaoning 110819, China
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Xiufang Liu;
Xiufang Liu
1
Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Guangdong 518055, China
3
College of Medicine and Biological information engineering, Northeastern University
, Liaoning 110819, China
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Wei Zhou;
Wei Zhou
1
Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Guangdong 518055, China
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Wenjun Zhang;
Wenjun Zhang
1
Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Guangdong 518055, China
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Xinhui Wang;
Xinhui Wang
1
Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Guangdong 518055, China
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Lili Niu;
Lili Niu
1
Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Guangdong 518055, China
2
Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence
, Guangzhou 510515, People's Republic of China
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Fei Li;
Fei Li
1
Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Guangdong 518055, China
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Feiyan Cai
;
Feiyan Cai
1
Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Guangdong 518055, China
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Junru Wu;
Junru Wu
4
Department of Physics, University of Vermont
, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA
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Hairong Zheng
Hairong Zheng
a)
1
Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
, Guangdong 518055, China
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a)
Electronic mail: hr.zheng@siat.ac.cn
Appl. Phys. Lett. 116, 073701 (2020)
Article history
Received:
August 07 2019
Accepted:
January 24 2020
Citation
Long Meng, Xiaoyu Cui, Chenyu Dong, Xiufang Liu, Wei Zhou, Wenjun Zhang, Xinhui Wang, Lili Niu, Fei Li, Feiyan Cai, Junru Wu, Hairong Zheng; Microbubble enhanced acoustic tweezers for size-independent cell sorting. Appl. Phys. Lett. 18 February 2020; 116 (7): 073701. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5123544
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