Definition
Acoustic trapping is the immobilization of particles and cells against a flow in the node of an ultrasonic standing wave field.
Overview
Acoustic trapping has been shown to be a gentle way of performing noncontact immobilization of cells and particles in microfluidic systems. Localized ultrasonic standing waves are created in microfluidic channels, cavities, or other small, confined spaces creating pressure nodes that attract and hold particles and cells. Commonly, structures in the range of a couple of 100 μm are used, corresponding to acoustic frequencies in the MHz range.
Background
Some 30 years ago, NASA and ESA started to develop containerless processing, and one of several possible techniques was acoustic trapping/levitation [1]. These open-air levitators, still in use today, are rather large instruments that create a standing wave in air and make it possible to position and levitate...
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Evander, M., Laurell, T. (2016). Acoustic Trapping. In: Bhushan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9780-1_424
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9780-1_424
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