title: A new immobilisation method to arrange particles in a gel matrix by ultrasound standing waves.
abstract: Ultrasonic forces may be used to manipulate particles in suspension. For example, a standing wave ultrasound (US) field applied to a suspension moves the particles toward areas of minimal acoustic pressure, where they are orderly retained creating a predictable heterogeneous distribution. This principle of ultrasonic retention of particles or cells has been applied in numerous biotechnological applications, such as mammalian cell filtering and red blood cell sedimentation. Here, a new US-based cell immobilisation technique is described that allows manipulation and positioning of cells/particles within various nontoxic gel matrices before polymerisation. Specifically, gel immobilisation was used to directly demonstrate that the viability of yeast cells arranged by an US standing wave is maintained up to 4 days after treatment. The versatility of this immobilisation method was validated using a wide range of acoustic devices. Finally, the potential biotechnological advantages of this US-controlled particle positioning method combined with gel immobilisation/encapsulation technology are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Microbiology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gherardini
authors.forename: Caroline M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cousins
authors.forename: Jeremy J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hawkes
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spengler
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Radel
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lawler
authors.forename: Branka
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Devcic-Kuhar
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gröschl
authors.forename: W Terence
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Coakley
authors.forename: Aiden J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: McLoughlin
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018914:Cells, Immobilized; D004912:Erythrocytes; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods; D008863:Microspheres; D008954:Models, Biological; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology; D013048:Specimen Handling; D013535:Suspensions; D014465:Ultrasonics
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D013535:Suspensions