Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW)-Based Sonoporation of Single-Adherent-Cell

Sonoporation refers to the formation of tiny transient pores in cell plasma membranes by using ultrasound to increase the permeability to bioactive materials. Recently, the Sonoporation technique has been widely researched in cell treatment applications, such as gene transfection. However, due to the random distribution of microbubbles, it is challenging to perform controllable and precise localized sonoporation of a target cell. In this work, a device based on the surface acoustic wave is developed to achieve a selective manipulation and cavitation of microbubbles. The device consists of a pair of microbubble positioning slant-finger interdigital transducers (SFITs) for moving a selected microbubble in a two-dimensional plane. Meanwhile, another narrow-frequency-band SFIT is integrated into the device for local cavitation control of the same microbubble. As a result, a microbubble can be transported orthogonal to and along the acoustic transmission path by continuously adjusting the input frequency and relative phase. Upon reaching the target cell, the selected microbubble can be cavitated without exciting other microbubbles, resulting in local sonoporation. The resolution of phase-based positioning and frequency-based transportation are 8.3 and 7.0 mu m with 45 degrees and 10 kHz settings, respectively.

Automated summary

A device based on surface acoustic wave is developed to achieve precise and controllable localized sonoporation by selectively manipulating and oscillating microbubbles. The device consists of a pair of microbubble positioning slant-finger interdigital transducers (SFITs) to move a selected microbubble in a two-dimensional plane, and another narrow-frequency-band SFIT for local cavitation control of the same microbubble. By continuously adjusting the input frequency and relative phase, a microbubble can be transported orthogonal to and along the acoustic transmission path.