Astonishing ‘acoustic tweezer’ could eradicate diseases

New developments in sound-wave technology are allowing scientists to manipulate cells without touching or altering them in any physical way.

According to Phys, researchers are using surface-acoustic-wave generators to move and manipulate individual cells without touching them in any way.

“In this application we use surface acoustic waves to create nodes where cells or microparticles are trapped,” said Tony Jun Huang, professor and The Huck Distinguished Chair in Bioengineering Science and Mechanics.

“We can then move the cell or particle in three dimensions to create structures in two or three dimensions.”

Here’s how it works: two surface-acoustic-wave generators are set up on opposite sides of a system. When sound waves from each side meet, pressure is created which manipulates the location of the cell. Depending on where the sound waves meet, the particles or cells will be motivated to move in certain directions. Alterations to different aspects of the sound wave, such as its amplitude, control whether the cells can be controlled in two dimensions or three.

“This approach could lead to new possibilities for research and applications in such areas as regenerative medicine, neuroscience, tissue engineering, biomanufacturing, and cancer metastasis,” said Subra Suresh, another member of the research team.

Single cells and cell assemblies have been manipulated and “bioprinted” using this “3-d tweezer” technique. Bioprinting is process that resembles 3-d printing on the cellular level, and it allows for potentially complex cell structures to imitated and recreated without the need to physically intervene.

In other words, by manipulating an acoustic waves, the researchers have discovered that they can position particles or cells wherever they want within the vertical or horizontal confines of the enclosed fluid.

“[This] may offer a unique way to print neuron cells to create artificial neural networks for neuron science applications or regenerative medicine,” said Ming Dao, director of the Nanomechanics Lab at MIT.