title: Standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW)-based microfluidic cytometer.
abstract: The development of microfluidic chip-based cytometers has become an important area due to their advantages of compact size and low cost. Herein, we demonstrate a sheathless microfluidic cytometer which integrates a standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW)-based microdevice capable of 3D particle/cell focusing with a laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection system. Using SSAW, our microfluidic cytometer was able to continuously focus microparticles/cells at the pressure node inside a microchannel. Flow cytometry was successfully demonstrated using this system with a coefficient of variation (CV) of less than 10% at a throughput of ~1000 events s(-1) when calibration beads were used. We also demonstrated that fluorescently labeled human promyelocytic leukemia cells (HL-60) could be effectively focused and detected with our SSAW-based system. This SSAW-based microfluidic cytometer did not require any sheath flows or complex structures, and it allowed for simple operation over a wide range of sample flow rates. Moreover, with the gentle, bio-compatible nature of low-power surface acoustic waves, this technique is expected to be able to preserve the integrity of cells and other bioparticles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. junhuang@psu.edu.
authors.forename: Yuchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ahmad Ahsan
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Nawaz
authors.forename: Yanhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Po-Hsun
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: J Phillip
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: McCoy
authors.forename: Stewart J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tony Jun
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D018922:HL-60 Cells; D006801:Humans; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D010316:Particle Size; D013016:Sound
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes